Location
Daseke Room (Hoover)
Start Date
29-4-2026 11:30 AM
End Date
29-4-2026 12:30 PM
Item Type
Paper Session
Description
On March 15, 2007, 44 different Francophone authors signed the manifesto Towards a World Literature in French (Simon trs., 2010), following the publication of their anthology of essays published under the same title (Pour une littérature-monde en français, LeBris et Rouaud dir., 2007). The manifesto claims the end of the division between French literature and Francophone literature—being the division between French literature by authors born in France and by authors not born in France, but uses the French language due to various reasons (primarily colonialism and education). However, the manifesto did fall into what some might deem a heated debate, with reactions and opinions ranging from “unbridled enthusiasm” to “outright rejection” (Chatzidimitriou, 2015). On the one hand, it would seem like this signifies a potential development from previous colonial distinction of literature and an opening towards the potential for authors from around the world to be part of the world literature movement in the French language. On the other hand, the manifesto has been critiqued for its lacking in terms of critical engagement with the language—both in the writing process of the manifesto and that of the literature domain that is being declared to be opening up, demonstrating a French universalist tendency that has been at the forefront of critiques for a long time (Chatzidimitriou, 2015). This project aims at exploring and proposing a more optimistic result from this manifesto through the proposition of a digital edition of a work by one of the authors/signatories. This work is the 2024 publication titled 80 mots du Viêtnam (EN: 80 words of/about Vietnam) by author Anna Moï, the only Vietnamese author among the 44 signatories. The goal of the project is to propose a theoretical digital rendition—accompanied with tools and resources—that would help break down the work of Anna Moï, aiming to fight against absolute inclination towards notions like neoliberal “marketing ploys” or neocolonial universalization due to “radical [historical] decontextualization” of the French language (see Chatzidimitriou, 2015), ignoring the long history of colonialism between France and various Francophonies, particularly Vietnam in this situation.
Presentation Slides
80 mots du Viêtnam: Anna Moï, Vietnamese-French relation, and “littérature-monde”
Daseke Room (Hoover)
On March 15, 2007, 44 different Francophone authors signed the manifesto Towards a World Literature in French (Simon trs., 2010), following the publication of their anthology of essays published under the same title (Pour une littérature-monde en français, LeBris et Rouaud dir., 2007). The manifesto claims the end of the division between French literature and Francophone literature—being the division between French literature by authors born in France and by authors not born in France, but uses the French language due to various reasons (primarily colonialism and education). However, the manifesto did fall into what some might deem a heated debate, with reactions and opinions ranging from “unbridled enthusiasm” to “outright rejection” (Chatzidimitriou, 2015). On the one hand, it would seem like this signifies a potential development from previous colonial distinction of literature and an opening towards the potential for authors from around the world to be part of the world literature movement in the French language. On the other hand, the manifesto has been critiqued for its lacking in terms of critical engagement with the language—both in the writing process of the manifesto and that of the literature domain that is being declared to be opening up, demonstrating a French universalist tendency that has been at the forefront of critiques for a long time (Chatzidimitriou, 2015). This project aims at exploring and proposing a more optimistic result from this manifesto through the proposition of a digital edition of a work by one of the authors/signatories. This work is the 2024 publication titled 80 mots du Viêtnam (EN: 80 words of/about Vietnam) by author Anna Moï, the only Vietnamese author among the 44 signatories. The goal of the project is to propose a theoretical digital rendition—accompanied with tools and resources—that would help break down the work of Anna Moï, aiming to fight against absolute inclination towards notions like neoliberal “marketing ploys” or neocolonial universalization due to “radical [historical] decontextualization” of the French language (see Chatzidimitriou, 2015), ignoring the long history of colonialism between France and various Francophonies, particularly Vietnam in this situation.
Comments
Completed as part of GFS-FREN 420: Global French Studies Senior Seminar, with Professor Carrie Klaus.