Laura Klein

Picture of Laura Klein
Lecturer in French, French & Italian
School of Humanities
M.A., University of Bucharest, Romania, 2001, French
M.A., University of California, Irvine, 2007, French
Ph.D., University of California, irvine, 2011, French
B.A., University of Bucharest, 2000, French/ English
University of California, Irvine
201 Humanities Instructional Building
Mail Code: 3150
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Camus, Djebar, Ben Jelloun, Francophone Literature, The Maghreb, Mediterranean Studies, Animality Studies, Translation Theory and Practice, French Ecosophy
Academic Distinctions
Lecturer Development Award 2015, 2017
Research Abstract
I completed my PhD and my dissertation on poetics and politics in the 20-21st century colonial and postcolonial French and Francophone literature. My dissertation explored the political and the esthetics in the oeuvre of Albert Camus and Assia Djebar, which then inspired my current book draft on Mediterranean identities and identifications. Drawing on contemporary political theories of the transnational Mediterranean basin, I am interested in extending my work in order to examine francophone writers before and after independence in the Maghreb, including but not limited to: Abdelkebir Khatibi, Albert Camus, Tahar ben Jelloun, Assia Djebar, Louis Bertrand, Boualem Sansal, Mahi Binebine.

Most recently I am interested in examining conjointly two fields that are regarded as conventionally discrete: the field of postcolonial Mediterranean studies and the field of animal studies.




COURSES TAUGHT
University of California, Irvine:

French 100A -Advanced Grammar and Composition (Rédactions)

French 50 Mediterranean Crossings

101B, 101C Introduction to French literature

French 1ABC: Fundamentals of French

French 2ABC: Intermediate French

University of Building Constructions, Bucharest, Romania:

French and English for Technical Purposes

Department of Romance Languages, University of Bucharest, Romania:

Text Analysis

Composition Writing
Publications
“Absence et témoignage dans la littérature maghrébine de migration”, Nouvelles Études Francophones, 37.2. 2022.
“The Rabbi's Cat -at the intersection of ecocriticism and the colonial Maghreb”, L’Esprit Créateur, "French ecocriticism/Écocritique française", Spring 2017
“Albert Camus: Fiction et transnation?”, French Forum, 2016
“Assia Djebar en face à face avec Albert Camus. ” The French Review, volume 87, no 2 December 2013.
Grants
2010 UC Regents Fellowship, 2009 Summer Dissertation Fellowship, 2005/06 UC Regents Fellowship
Last updated
06/01/2024