Current Research
Publications (published, under review, in progress)
Monograph
Colonial Tourists: French Women’s Travel Narratives on Morocco (monograph in
progress and proposal in preparation)
Edited Volumes
Abdellah Taïa’s Queer Migrations: Non-Places, Affect, Temporalities. Eds. Denis M. Provencher
and Siham Bouamer. Lexington Books, 2021. Series: After the Empire: The Francophone World and Postcolonial France. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793644862/Abdellah-Taïa’s-Queer-Migrations-Non-places-Affect-and-Temporalities
Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies. Eds. Siham Bouamer and Loic Bourdeau. Palgrave, 2022.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-95357-7
‘Taking up Space’: Women at Work in Contemporary France. Eds. Siham Bouamer and Sonja
Stojanovic. University of Wales Press, 2022.
Queer Realms of Memory (co-edited volume with Denis M. Provencher and Ryan Schroth under contract with Liverpool University Press)
Special Issues of Scholarly Journals
Introducing CFC Intersections. Special Inaugural Issue of CFC Intersections 1.1.
Eds. Siham Bouamer and Denis Provencher.
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journals/id/109/volume/1/issue/6721/
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Humor, Love, and Universalism: “Happy Ending” for Undocumented Migrants in Samba
(2014),” Contemporary French Civilization, vol. 47.4 (2022), pp. 443-466.
“ Aïcha la rebelle, Aïcha la nomade: Résistance au féminin sous l’occupation coloniale
espagnole au Maroc,” Transitions: Journal of Franco-Iberian Studies, vol. 13 (2020), pp. 69-96.
“A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Representations in Collegiate World Language Textbooks
(Arabic, French, and German)” with Yazan, B., Uzum, B., Zahrawi, S., Bouamer, S., & Malakaj, E. Linguistics and Education, vol. 65 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2020.100901
“Du néoréalisme italien au néoréalisme marseillais: Entretien avec Jean-Bernard Marlin sur son
film Shéhérazade (2018),” Francosphères, vol. vol. 9.2 (2020), pp. 193-202.
“Integration à tout prix: Islam, Islamism, and the Hijab, in Yamina Benguigui’s Aïcha,” French
Studies, pp. 1–16 (2020), doi:10.1093/fs/knaa219.
“Parcours initiatique musical dans Infidèles de Abdellah Taïa.” Expressions
Maghrébines (“Image, Texte, Son: Esthétiques Transmédiales du Maghreb Contemporain”), vol. 19 (été 2020), pp. 107-124.
“Monstrous Moroccan Women in French Women’s Travel Narratives during the
Protectorate.” Intertexts, vol. 23.1-2 (2019), pp. 65-90.
“Souvenirs du Maroc et nostalgie du pré-protectorat dans Ce Monde disparu. Souvenirs
de Madeleine Saint-René Taillandier.” Études Francophones (“Déclin, deuil et nostalgie”), vol. 30 (Printemps 2019), pp. 116-135.
“#DACA Dialogues: Visual and Textual Analyses from Instagram and Twitter.” with
Eaton, P., Ates, B. I-LanD: Identity, Language and Diversity Journal, n1/2018 (June 2018), pp. 75-101.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
“‘Be Proud of all the Fatimas’: From Alienation of Labor to Poetic Consciousness in Philippe
Faucon’s Fatima,” in ‘Taking up Space’: Women at Work in Contemporary France. Eds. Siham Bouamer and Sonja Stojanovic. University of Wales Press, 2022: 119-135.
“He Loves me/He Loves me not: Cruel Optimism in Abdellah Taïa’s L’armée du salut”. In
Abdellah Taïa’s Queer Migrations: Non-Places, Affect, Temporalities. Eds. Denis M. Provencher and Siham Bouamer. Lexington Books, 2021: pp. 113-126.
“Lettres Parisiennes: De l’exil à la migrance” dans Les écritures migrantes: de l’exil à la
migrance littéraire dans le roman francophone, sous la direction d’Adama Coulibaly et Yao Louis Konan, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2015 : pp. 211-234.
Invited Contributions
“On Accessibility and Relevance: Recentering Colonial History and Racism in French Textbooks,”
H-France Salon: Special Issue on Race, Racism and the Study of France and the Francophone World, volume 13, Issue 18, 2021 (Invited contribution for a pedagogical reflections)
“A Tale of Two Women, Two Mothers: “Adam’,” The Museum of Fine Arts’s Blog, March 14, 2021 (invited blog post)
Book Reviews
Redouane, Rabia. Écriture féminine maghrébine de l'extrême contemporain. The French Review,
Volume 94, Number 4, May 2021, pp. 287-288.
Michael Gott & Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp, dirs. ReFocus: The Films of Rachid Bouchareb. French Studies
Ralph Heyndels & Amine Zidouh, dirs. Autour d’Abdellah Taïa /Around Abdellah Taïa.Poétique et politique du désir engagé / Poetics and Politics of Engaged Desire. (forthcoming in Contemporary French Civilization)Tina
Tina Dransfeldt Christensen. Writing Queer Identities in Morocco: Abdellah Taïa and Moroccan
Committed Literature. (in preparation for French studies)
Monograph in progress
Colonial Tourists: French Women's Travel Narratives on Morocco Colonial investigates French women travelers’ accounts on Morocco during the protectorate, a heretofore rarely examined component of French colonial history and literature. The texts first allow me to examine the renewal of literature on Morocco hitherto dominated by male writers in the nineteenth century. I argue that those narratives constitute an integral part of colonial propaganda. In particular, focusing on maps, photographs, and texts, I examine the dynamics of tourism as a subtext for the promotion of French imperial expansion in North Africa during four major periods, Ultimately, I reveal how the touristic framework, which, from the outset, nurtures ethnocentric discourses on gender, class, race, religion, and sexuality, reinforced the colonial discourse on Morocco and served to mark a clear separation between colonized/colonizer at the core of the definition of the protectorate--within debates on assimilation/association--at a time when an unclear definition of the particular status of the protectorate threatened France’s presence in the Mediterranean.
Other work
My research on colonial texts aims to justify the inclusion of works by French women travelling throughout Morocco into the growing canon of North African literature and criticism. It accomplishes this revision largely by considering their multiple linguistic, aesthetic, and socio-political connections to later postcolonial texts. For instance, in a forthcoming article in Transitions: Journal of Franco-Iberian Studies, I discuss how Halima Benhaddou’s novel Aïcha la rebelle destroys the visual and literary colonial discourse and overthrows the masculinized independence mythology by replacing the fight for independence in the liminal region of the Rif.
My work in contemporary French culture specifically concerns marginality in regards to postcolonial and transnational cultural transfer. An article on Leïla Sebbar has been published in an edited volume on migrant writings. In a forthcoming article in the journal French Studies, I challenge the representation of Islam in Yamina Benguigui’s téléfilms Aïcha. In continuation to my work on young Maghrebis in French cinema, I have recently discussed the film Shéhérazade with the director Jean-Bernard Marlin. The interview titled "Du réalisme italien ou réalisme marseillais: Entretien avec Jean-Bernard Marlin sur son film Shéhérazade" will be published in Francosphères. In Fall 2019, I was invited to discuss the representation of Maghrebi women in French cinema at the Houston Museum of Arts before the screening of Meryem Benm' Barek's film Sofia.
My work on Abdellah Taïa specifically concerns transcultural and transtemporal intermediality. In a recent article published in Expressions Maghrébines, I argue that Taïa reinvents the directionality of his protagonist's initiatory journey around an ecstatic musical temporality. I show that the three musical references included in the novel serve to articulate the actantial narrative schema of the novel and the different stages of Jallal’s initiation. I am also currently preparing a co-editing volume (with Denis Provencher-University of Arizona) on the Moroccan writer titled Abdellah Taïa's Queer Migrations: Non-places, Affect, and Temporalities (2021) was recently published (Lexington Books) . The volume aims to explore the theme of (queer) migration beyond geographical displacement with an emphasis on non-places, affective economies, and postcolonial temporalities. In my chapter, I dismantle the affective structure of "cruel optimism" imposed on Taïa’s work, by focusing on his film Salvation Army. I argue that the individual negotiations of intimacy with the three characters lead to Abdellah’s gradual detachment from cruel optimism and expectations of durable intimacy at different stages of his life. I show that the multiple repetitions of Abdel Halim Hafez’s song “Ana Laka 3ala Toul” (I am yours forerver) from the Egyptian film Days and Nights ironically serve as markers for those transitions.
This research on Maghrebi representation has informed broader research in pedagogy, as part as my work on decolonization and the French curriculum. A collaborative article submitted to the Journal of Language, Identity and Education argues that language textbooks represent language communities as homogeneous and essentialized groupings that erase minority identities. I aim to continue this research with a historical study of the evolution of the representation of North Africa in French textbooks.
In addition, I am currently working on two edited volumes. In the first one (co-edited with Sonja Stojanovic-University of Notre Dame), we explore the representation of Womxn at work in Contemporary France (proposal under review with University of Wales Press). In the proposed volume, titled ‘Taking Up Space’: Women at Work in Contemporary France, drawing on Sara Ahmed's notion of 'taking up space', we reflect on how womxn inhabit certain spaces, be it in academic, corporate, domestic, or working-class environments. In the second one, titled Queer Realms of Memory,Denis Provencher (University of Arizona) Ryan Schroth (Wake Forest University) and I seek to challenge France’s lieux de mémoire and national narrative by examining the ways in which non-normative sexualities and queerness influence remembering as it is constituted in expressions of national belonging and resistance.
My work in contemporary French culture specifically concerns marginality in regards to postcolonial and transnational cultural transfer. An article on Leïla Sebbar has been published in an edited volume on migrant writings. In a forthcoming article in the journal French Studies, I challenge the representation of Islam in Yamina Benguigui’s téléfilms Aïcha. In continuation to my work on young Maghrebis in French cinema, I have recently discussed the film Shéhérazade with the director Jean-Bernard Marlin. The interview titled "Du réalisme italien ou réalisme marseillais: Entretien avec Jean-Bernard Marlin sur son film Shéhérazade" will be published in Francosphères. In Fall 2019, I was invited to discuss the representation of Maghrebi women in French cinema at the Houston Museum of Arts before the screening of Meryem Benm' Barek's film Sofia.
My work on Abdellah Taïa specifically concerns transcultural and transtemporal intermediality. In a recent article published in Expressions Maghrébines, I argue that Taïa reinvents the directionality of his protagonist's initiatory journey around an ecstatic musical temporality. I show that the three musical references included in the novel serve to articulate the actantial narrative schema of the novel and the different stages of Jallal’s initiation. I am also currently preparing a co-editing volume (with Denis Provencher-University of Arizona) on the Moroccan writer titled Abdellah Taïa's Queer Migrations: Non-places, Affect, and Temporalities (2021) was recently published (Lexington Books) . The volume aims to explore the theme of (queer) migration beyond geographical displacement with an emphasis on non-places, affective economies, and postcolonial temporalities. In my chapter, I dismantle the affective structure of "cruel optimism" imposed on Taïa’s work, by focusing on his film Salvation Army. I argue that the individual negotiations of intimacy with the three characters lead to Abdellah’s gradual detachment from cruel optimism and expectations of durable intimacy at different stages of his life. I show that the multiple repetitions of Abdel Halim Hafez’s song “Ana Laka 3ala Toul” (I am yours forerver) from the Egyptian film Days and Nights ironically serve as markers for those transitions.
This research on Maghrebi representation has informed broader research in pedagogy, as part as my work on decolonization and the French curriculum. A collaborative article submitted to the Journal of Language, Identity and Education argues that language textbooks represent language communities as homogeneous and essentialized groupings that erase minority identities. I aim to continue this research with a historical study of the evolution of the representation of North Africa in French textbooks.
In addition, I am currently working on two edited volumes. In the first one (co-edited with Sonja Stojanovic-University of Notre Dame), we explore the representation of Womxn at work in Contemporary France (proposal under review with University of Wales Press). In the proposed volume, titled ‘Taking Up Space’: Women at Work in Contemporary France, drawing on Sara Ahmed's notion of 'taking up space', we reflect on how womxn inhabit certain spaces, be it in academic, corporate, domestic, or working-class environments. In the second one, titled Queer Realms of Memory,Denis Provencher (University of Arizona) Ryan Schroth (Wake Forest University) and I seek to challenge France’s lieux de mémoire and national narrative by examining the ways in which non-normative sexualities and queerness influence remembering as it is constituted in expressions of national belonging and resistance.
Conference Organized
2021 CFC Intersections Inaugural Conference.
French & Francophone Screen Studies Virtual Fall Mini-Conference: “Revolt, Rebellion, Revolution on Screen"
2020 Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum Conference.
French & Francophone Screen Studies Virtual Fall Mini-Conference: “Revolt, Rebellion, Revolution on Screen"
2020 Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum Conference.
Upcoming and recent conference presentations
2021 Co-organizer: “ Queer Realms of Memory,” Winthrop-King International Conference (plenary session)
Co-organizer: “Decentering French Curriculum, Programming, and Publishing: Queer as
the New Normal and Normative,” 20th and 21st French and Francophone Studies International Colloqu
Co-organizer and respondent: “Cultural (Mis)appropriation in the Francophone World,” Modern
Language Association Convention.
2021 "Mythologization of the Colonial Past in French Women's Travel Narratives on Morocco," MLA.
2020 “Forgetting the National Anthem: Queer Musical Pride of Belonging in Abdellah Taïa’s work,” 20th and
21st French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium. (March 2020-Canceled due to Covid)
2020 “Decolonizing the French Curriculum: Strategies for Recruitment,” Modern Language Association
Convention.
2019 “He Loves me, He Loves me not: Cruel Optimism in Abdellah Taïa’s Salvation Army” Contemporary
French Civilization-s Conference.
2019 "Cruel Optimism and Queer Failure in Abdullah Taia's Salvation Army." The 2019
MLA Convention.
2018 "Demonizing the Moroccan Woman in French Women's Travel Writing." The
Society for Comparative Literature and the Arts Conference.
2018 "Dans l’ombre de La Marianne : Discours de Reynalde de Lacharrière sur le
Maroc. "
Women in French Conference.
2018 “Alternative Voices, Alternative Topographic Representations: French Women’s
Travel Narratives during the Protectorate in Morocco.” ACLA Conference.
2018 “Decolonizing the French Curriculum.” Révoltes et révolutions at University of
Louisiana, Lafayette.
2018 “Imagined Language Communities, Learners, and Language Use in Arabic,
French, and German Language Textbooks,” American Association of Applied
Linguistics. With Baburhan Uzum, Bedrettin Yazan,Siham Bouamer, and Samar
Zahrawi.
2017 “La Banlieue in prime time in Yamina Benguigui’s Aïcha.” The North Eastern
Modern Language Association Convention.
Co-organizer: “Decentering French Curriculum, Programming, and Publishing: Queer as
the New Normal and Normative,” 20th and 21st French and Francophone Studies International Colloqu
Co-organizer and respondent: “Cultural (Mis)appropriation in the Francophone World,” Modern
Language Association Convention.
2021 "Mythologization of the Colonial Past in French Women's Travel Narratives on Morocco," MLA.
2020 “Forgetting the National Anthem: Queer Musical Pride of Belonging in Abdellah Taïa’s work,” 20th and
21st French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium. (March 2020-Canceled due to Covid)
2020 “Decolonizing the French Curriculum: Strategies for Recruitment,” Modern Language Association
Convention.
2019 “He Loves me, He Loves me not: Cruel Optimism in Abdellah Taïa’s Salvation Army” Contemporary
French Civilization-s Conference.
2019 "Cruel Optimism and Queer Failure in Abdullah Taia's Salvation Army." The 2019
MLA Convention.
2018 "Demonizing the Moroccan Woman in French Women's Travel Writing." The
Society for Comparative Literature and the Arts Conference.
2018 "Dans l’ombre de La Marianne : Discours de Reynalde de Lacharrière sur le
Maroc. "
Women in French Conference.
2018 “Alternative Voices, Alternative Topographic Representations: French Women’s
Travel Narratives during the Protectorate in Morocco.” ACLA Conference.
2018 “Decolonizing the French Curriculum.” Révoltes et révolutions at University of
Louisiana, Lafayette.
2018 “Imagined Language Communities, Learners, and Language Use in Arabic,
French, and German Language Textbooks,” American Association of Applied
Linguistics. With Baburhan Uzum, Bedrettin Yazan,Siham Bouamer, and Samar
Zahrawi.
2017 “La Banlieue in prime time in Yamina Benguigui’s Aïcha.” The North Eastern
Modern Language Association Convention.
Invited Presentations
2020 “Beyond the Banlieue: Decolonizing Paris on Screen,” The
Centre for Modern European Literature at the University of
Kent.
“Racial Justice and Modern Languages,” The Centre for Modern
European Literature at the University of Kent .
“Diversity and Inclusion in the French Classroom,” AATF (Saint
Louis Chapter).
"Contemporary Salon: Mariam Ghani", University of Houston
Blaffer Art Museum.
2019 "Young French Cinema: Sofia", The Museum of Fine Arts-Houston.
Centre for Modern European Literature at the University of
Kent.
“Racial Justice and Modern Languages,” The Centre for Modern
European Literature at the University of Kent .
“Diversity and Inclusion in the French Classroom,” AATF (Saint
Louis Chapter).
"Contemporary Salon: Mariam Ghani", University of Houston
Blaffer Art Museum.
2019 "Young French Cinema: Sofia", The Museum of Fine Arts-Houston.
Student Research
I am committed to student research. I regularly advise students for the SHSU Undergraduate Research Symposium. For instance, a successful student presentation on “Propaganda in Times of War,” which grew out of a paper my student wrote in my Contemporary French Culture seminar, resulted in the publication of an article on Zucca’s photographs in the SHSU Journal for Undergraduate Research. I have also mentored students for presentation at the SHSU Annual Diversity Leadership Conference. Students from my Islamophobia Honors Course presented a panel on “What is Islamophobia?” Another student also recently presented on outreach initiatives addressing sexual violence in U.S. institutions after a course I taught on #MeToo.
Faculty Writing Circles program
I have joined the SHSU Professional and Academic Center for Excellence family as coordinator for the Faculty Writing Circles program. This year, I have also included a graduate student program. Writing circles meet for one hour weekly to support one another's efforts for daily writing, discuss challenges, and share strategies for successful academic writing. I also organize monthly writing retreats and workshops on best practices in writing.
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