Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies

Abstract

This edited volume presents new and original approaches to teaching the French foreign- language curriculum, reconceptualizing the French classroom through a more inclusive lens. The volume engages with a broad range of scholars to facilitate an understanding of the process of French (de)colonization as well as its reverberations into the postcolonial era, and a deeper engagement with the global interconnectedness of these processes. Chapters in Part I revist the concept of the "francophonie," decenter the field from "metropolitan" or "hexagonal" and white France and underline how current teaching materials reproduce epistemic and colonial violence. Part II adopts an intersectional approach to address topics of gender inclusivity, trans-affirming teaching, queer materials, and ableism. Finally, Part III presents new ways to transform the discipline by affirming our commitment to social justice and making sure that our classrooms are representative of our students' enriching diversity. Siham Bouamer is Assistant Professor of French at Sam Houston State University, USA. Her research focuses on transnational movements from and to the Maghreb in twentieth and twenty-first-century film and literature and pedagogy in textbooks. Loïc Bourdeau is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA. His research lies in twentieth and twenty-first-century French and Quebec literature and cinema, with special theoretical interests in feminist and queer studies.