About
My research centers on experiences of immigration as depicted in contemporary French literature and movies, and especially comic books. I look at joyous and defiant representations of immigration and immigrants, as storytelling that is deliberately complicating or rejecting representations of victimhood, pain, suffering, and the “model” immigrant (Marjane Satrapi and Maryse Condé are the authors I'm currently most interested in).
I take an international/comparative approach to this topic by using German literature/movies in my work as well. I work with the theories of emotion as represented in the body and its movements, drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed. An important addition to my work is my interest in museums – I argue that these cultural institutions play a big role in how we see new/unfamiliar/different bodies, and how we react to them in these elite spaces can predict or mirror how these bodies are reacted to in other public spaces, especially those perceived as elite or culturally valuable. I believe museum spaces impact immigration and its (un)acceptance-- not just in how immigrants are represented on the walls, but how visitors by their mere presence are part of the exhibit. I find that the museum is unique in its role of inviting the gaze, where the point is to look/gaze/stare, but there is some fluidity as to what is looked at, how, how long, and if the presence in this space elevates your status (museums are elitist, erudite spaces) or not (you are not welcome in this space, you stick out, you are not behaving correctly).
