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MA (York University, Glendon College), iBA (York University, Glendon College) 

Research

My research examines the evolution of Balzac’s recognition, legitimization and canonization as a classic writer. It considers the writer’s countless obstacles, repeated failures and nuanced tensions reflected both in his complex personality and prolific texts, with a particular focus on Le Colonel Chabert, La Peau de chagrin, Eugénie Grandet, Le Père Goriot, Le Lys dans la vallée, Illusions perdues, La Cousine Bette and Le Cousin Pons. Consequently, this creates a series of antinomies and paradoxes between his commercial fame and academic respectability, the rise of the nineteenth-century roman and its popular competitor the roman-feuilleton, as well as the institutional prestige of the literary canon and the growing popularity of novel-to-stage adaptations. I argue that Balzac’s work transcends these antinomies by establishing its omnipresence in the literary, journalistic, theatrical and posthumously cinematographic fields. His work is therefore a crucial case in the classic-popular dialectic as his texts’ wider dissemination, global impact as well as subsequent adaptations forge an interdependent relationship between the classic and the popular. 

Inspired to challenge and redevelop the approaches of David Bellos, Alain Viala, Andrew Watts and Nathalie Denizot, my thesis underlines the indispensable value of Balzac’s texts not only in nineteenth century-France, but also in much of the world today. By undertaking a research project which considers the socio-cultural implications of the ‘classic, it will re-examine and ultimately reinvent one’s understanding of the term, demystify the reading culture of the twenty-first century, notably in France and other Francophone countries and rethink the ways in which authors and texts assume their places within the pantheon of classic literature. 

My research is partly funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. For the 2022-2023 school year, I conducted research in Paris, primarily at the BnF and the Maison de Balzac. In addition, I undertook a teaching post, serving as a Lectrice de langue at Université Paris-Nanterre. 

In my spare time, I enjoy going on nature walks, watching films while drowning myself in caffeinated delights and cycling through cities in a classic marinière and a timeless red lip. 

Conference Papers  

SDN: XXth Annual Conference – University of Oxford (March 2023) 

  • ‘The Magic of Lamartine’s Travels through the Balkans: the (Dis)Enchanted Utopia of the Romanticized Serb’ 

SDN: XIXth Annual Conference – Queen’s University Belfast (April 2022) 

  • ‘Le double sur le double: l’union monstrueuse entre la peinture et le cinéma dans Thérèse Raquin’

 ACEF 19e Siècle: XVIIth Annual Conference – University of Alberta (May 2021)

  • ‘La perception de la folie dans Thérèse Raquin de Zola et ses adaptations cinématographiques’

Teaching

  • French Tutor, Brasenose College (2021-2022)

  • Lectrice d’anglais, Université Paris-Nanterre (2022-2023)

 Awards

  • SSHRC Canadian Scholarship (2022-2026)