French and Italian Introduction Faculty & Staff   Courses & Syllabi 2007/2008 Curriculum 2008/2009 Curriculum     Majors     Francophone House   Study Abroad Program     May 1968	Grace An Teaches: French cinema, language and literature. Research Interests: French Cinema and Visual Studies Classical and Contemporary Film Theory French Orientalisms New Wave and New Wave nostalgia 20th and 21st century French literature Post-colonial Studies Comments: French Studies is a good first step toward becoming a thoughtfully cosmopolitan participant in our increasingly globalizing world. In my courses at Oberlin, I ask students to think critically about the demands of cross-cultural experiences and to develop the linguistic, cultural, and intellectual sensibilities that can help make them meaningful. They must address the specificity of the French tradition in cinema and literature, yet also consider its place within global cultural production. These interests have come together in my book-in-progress, tentatively titled A Par-asian Imaginary: French Cinematic, Artistic, and Literary Encounters with East Asia since 1945. “Par-asian” is the term I use to describe the different types of relationships that filmmakers and writers such as Marguerite Duras, Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, Henri Michaux, and Olivier Assayas have explored between France and Asia, as well as to characterize the moments of French self-critique that have been undertaken “par l’Asie,” or through Asia. My research offers a look into French responses to their own history of Orientalism in order to understand what they may have at stake, during French decolonization in the second half of the 20th century and in the face of the importance assumed by the Pacific Rim in the 21st. E-mail: Grace.An@oberlin.edu Back to Faculty page.