2026: Literature, What For?
The Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association (DFSGSA) invites researchers and students to this year's conference, "Literature, What For?", to share their research with colleagues in the fields of French and Francophone Studies on the role and impact of literature upon others.
Call for Papers / Appel à Communications:
2025-2026 DFSGSA Executive Committee
- Zull-Kifuly Moumouni, President
- Avril Akogun, Vice-President
- Tajudeen Salaudeen, Secretary
- Mawuli Ankou, Treasurer
- Natalie Wright, Public Relations Officer (Fall, 2025)
- Trent Dunkin, Public Relations Officer (Spring, 2026)
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| 2026 | ||
| Thursday, March 5th | ||
| 10:00 AM |
Opening Remarks & Keynote Address: "For What Literature?" LSU Department of French Studies 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM |
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|---|---|---|
| 11:00 AM |
“The Written Word, What For? Exploring Genre as Written Memory and Connection over Time” Hallie-Blair Quatro, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hodges Hall, Louisiana State University 11:00 AM - 11:20 AM |
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| 11:20 AM |
A Poetics of Disorder: Maryse Condé in Dialogue with Édouard Glissant and “Others” Princewill Onomejoh, Louisiana State University 11:20 AM - 11:40 AM |
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| 11:40 AM |
Redefining Gender Roles through Care and Vulnerability in Żeromski’s The Faithful River Avril Akogun, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College 11:40 AM - 12:00 PM |
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| 12:00 PM |
Karen Amarteifio, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM |
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| 12:20 PM |
Panel A Q&A Session: Women & Literature LSU Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 12:20 PM - 12:30 PM |
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| 12:30 PM |
LSU Department of French Studies 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM |
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| 1:30 PM |
Maria Laura Cucciniello, Humboldt-University Berlin Online 1:30 PM - 1:50 PM |
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| 1:50 PM |
Why the Film Was Banned and its Significance during the Colonial Era and Aftermath Sawel Awuni, University of Mississippi 1:50 PM - 2:10 PM |
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| 2:10 PM |
Adapting Identities: Multimodal Expressions of African Women’s Agency in Francophone Film Alicia M. Hilaire, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge 2:10 PM - 2:30 PM |
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| 2:30 PM |
1990s alt music slang and socioeconomic precarity in Despentes’ "Vernon Subutex" series Daniel J. Lightfoot, University of St Andrews 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM |
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| 2:50 PM |
Panel B Q&A Session: The Arts & Literature LSU Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 2:50 PM - 3:00 PM |
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| 3:00 PM |
Lydia Gyamfi, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge 3:00 PM - 3:20 PM |
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| 3:20 PM |
Mawuli Kwami Ankou, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College 3:20 PM - 3:40 PM |
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| 3:40 PM |
Mimicry, Power, and Neocolonial Discourse in Waberi’s Satirical Reversal of the Global Order Emmanuel K. Somali, Mississippi State University 3:40 PM - 4:00 PM |
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| 4:00 PM |
Toxic Masculinity and Post-Colonial Violence in Titaua Peu’s Pina. Junia Owumi, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College 4:00 PM - 4:20 PM |
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| 4:20 PM |
Panel C Q&A Session: Politics & Literature I Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 4:20 PM - 4:30 PM |
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| Friday, March 6th | ||
| 10:00 AM |
The Enduring Need for Literature: Cognitive Benefits and the Prospect of its Disappearance Imane Labiad, Universite Abou Bekr Belkaid, Tlemcen 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM |
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| 10:20 AM |
La Satire, un outil pour la conscience sociale : Le rôle public de la littérature aujourd'hui Arshdeep Kaur, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India 10:20 AM - 10:40 AM |
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| 10:40 AM |
Contemporary French Autobiographical Literature in the Digital Age, a Mirror of the Self Cheyma Ben Hassine, Tulane University 10:40 AM - 11:00 AM |
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| 11:00 AM |
Peter Akongfeh Agwu Ph.D, University of Calabar- Faculty of Arts 11:00 AM - 11:20 AM |
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| 11:20 AM |
Panel D Q&A Session: Information and Society LSU Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 11:20 AM - 11:30 AM |
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| 11:30 AM |
Stanley Ugochukwu Dibiah, University of Benin 11:30 AM - 11:50 AM |
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| 11:50 AM |
The Street as Chronotope: Palimpsestic Memory in Hédi Kaddour’s ‘Rue de Tournon Omar Harem, University Centre of Maghnia 11:50 AM - 12:10 PM |
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| 12:10 PM |
Femigritude Writers: Reclaiming the Self Through Return and Agency Diweng Mercy Dafong, University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa 12:10 PM - 12:30 PM |
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| 12:30 PM |
The Narrative Voice and the Fragmented Self in Black Skin White Masks Emmanuella Abaidoo Kwarteng, Mississippi State University 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM |
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| 12:50 PM |
Panel E Q&A Session: Poetry & Philosophy LSU Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 12:50 PM - 1:00 PM |
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| 1:00 PM |
LSU Department of French Studies 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM |
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| 2:00 PM |
Transcending Postcolonial Boundaries in Tierno Monénembo’s Saharienne Indigo Aviana R. San Souci, Louisiana State University 2:00 PM - 2:20 PM |
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| 2:20 PM |
Literature as Counter-Power in Postcolonial Algeria Nabil Boudraa, Oregon State University 2:20 PM - 2:40 PM |
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| 2:40 PM |
Bilel Ben El Asker, Emory University 2:40 PM - 3:00 PM |
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| 3:00 PM |
Joel Mensah Asmah, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Online 3:00 PM - 3:20 PM |
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| 3:20 PM |
Chiraz Amani, University of Louisiana at Lafayette 3:20 PM - 3:40 PM |
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| 3:40 PM |
Panel F Q&A Session: Politics & Literature II LSU Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association 3:40 PM - 3:50 PM |
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| 4:00 PM |
LSU Department of French Studies To be determined 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
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