Etienne Charrière to do post-doctoral research fellowship at the Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul

03/14/2016

Charrière is completing a dissertation in our Department of Comparative Literature entitled "We Must Ourselves Write About Ourselves: The Trans-Communal Rise of the Novel in the Late Ottoman Empire." Working with primary sources in five languages (Greek, Armenian, Ottoman-Turkish, French, and English), he studies the reception of Western prose fiction in the three major literatures of the late Ottoman Empire, paying special attention to a neglected aspect of this reception, the often quite creative processes of translation, adaptation and mimickry at play in these three languages. Additionally, he uses the case studies of his thesis to propose new ways to think about global Francophonies in the 19th century by emphasizing the commodification and hybridization of French cultural tropes more than the uses of the French language. In addition to his path-breaking thesis, his impressive academic profile includes publications, presentations, committee participations, international conferencing, panel organizing, journal editing, successful teaching, team work, and much more. We have been fortunate to have him as a student, interlocutor, and collaborator.