The Politics of French Literary History in the US and France Today

The study of French Literature in American universities has undergone tremendous changes over the past two decades, as everyone involved in its teaching is aware. These changes are in part attributable to “internal” pressures, such as the impact of new theoretical paradigms and critical approaches (cultural studies, post-colonial studies, gender studies, queer theory, to name the major ones). But they are also the result of practical, “external” considerations, including declining enrollments in many foreign languages, and other curricular pressures linked to “globalization.” Most important, they reflect historical and cultural developments of extraordinary magnitude: the increased visibility of post-colonial cultures and societies; the end of the Cold War with its Manichean dichotomy of “East” and “West,” ongoing efforts to achieve gender equality, and other, emerging issues.