Polygraphies: Francophone Women Writing Algeria

Acknowledgments

ix acknowledgments With gratitude I wish to acknowledge the many people who provided inspiration and encouragement as I wrote this book. As my dedication indicates , I would like to express special appreciation to Françoise Lionnet, my professor and advisor during my doctoral studies at the University of California , Los Angeles. I continue to seek her counsel, and hope to emulate her openness, generosity, and dedication to the profession. It has been a great pleasure to interact in person and on paper with the women whose work is represented in this book, and I am indebted to Maïssa Bey, Hélène Cixous, Assia Djebar, Malika Mokeddem, Zahia Rahmani , and Leïla Sebbar for verbal and written exchanges that have touched me personally and enabled me to engage more directly with their creative work. It would be di≈cult to name all of the scholars and professors who have had an impact on Polygraphies, but I would like to mention a few whose influence is of particular pertinence to my work. Emily Apter, Réda Bensma ïa, Mireille Calle-Gruber, Odile Cazenave, Christiane Chaulet-Achour, Anne Donadey, Hafid Gafaïti, Mary Jean Green, Alec Hargreaves, Mireille Rosello, and Dominic Thomas have all provided valuable insights into Francophone literatures, and they have set examples from which I have had the good fortune to learn. Since my arrival at the University of Notre Dame in 2005, I have benefited from countless conversations with Theodore J. Cachey Jr., Chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. His support and advice have been invaluable, and I am deeply grateful. The Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, John McGreevy, has also encouraged me with his belief in the importance of languages and cultures and his e√orts on behalf of internationalism and diversity. In addition, I value the administrative wisdom and theoretical perspectives of Joseph Buttigieg, Director of the Ph.D. in Literature Program; speaking with him is always enlightening and enjoyable. My wonderful colleagues at Notre Dame have inspired me inavarietyofways.IamclosesttothoseintheFrenchsection,withwhomI have met and discussed many topics, and whose feedback I appreciate: Maureen Boulton, JoAnn Della Neva, Julia Douthwaite, Louis MacKenzie , Catherine Perry, and Alain Toumayan. The competence and expertise of Linda Rule, Senior Administrative Assistant in Romance Languages and x Acknowledgments Literatures, have facilitated many of the technical aspects of this book, and I wish to thank her wholeheartedly. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Agustín Fuentes, Director, and Patricia Base, Senior Administrative Assistant of the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame. The research and publication of this book were made possible in part by support from the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, and I am especially grateful. Earlier versions of several chapters appeared in the journal Women’s Studies International Forum and the collective volumes Diversité littéraire en Algérie, Marie Cardinal: New Perspectives and Reading and Writing La Rupture: Essays in French Studies. I am thankful for the opportunity to include these essays, which have been extensively revised and expanded since their initial publication, in Polygraphies. It has been a delight to become acquainted with Cathie Brettschneider, the Humanities Editor at the University of Virginia Press, as well as Raennah Mitchell, Morgan Myers, and Ellen Satrom. They are models of warmth and professionalism, and I feel lucky to have the chance to work with them. I am also fortunate to have as familial models a long line of strong, motivated women, and one of them was instrumental in making this book a reality. My ninety-five-year-old grandmother, Kathryn Taylor, helped care for my two young daughters, Rosa and Alexa Morel, giving me precious pockets of time. My mother and father, Gail and Richard Rice, have been a source of constant support; I could never thank them enough. My deepest gratitude goes to Olivier Morel, a fantastic father, an incomparable interlocutor, the love of my life. Polygraphies ...