Research Areas

20th and 21st century French and Francophone literature; Far-right literature; Banlieue literature; Postcolonial studies; Critical Race studies; Whiteness studies.

Biography

Julie is a first-year PhD student originally from Tours located in the Loire Valley, a region celebrated for its wine, cheese, and as the birthplace of Balzac and Rabelais (though she suspects the wine and cheese might be the real highlights). She spent the first 24 years of her life there and earned a B.A. in English, a professional degree in Communication, and an M.A. in Cultural Studies from the University of Tours. Her Master’s thesis delved into the advertising of psychotropic drugs in the U.S., an interdisciplinary study that bridged gender studies, race studies, and more.

In 2020, undeterred by a global pandemic, Julie embarked on her first transatlantic adventure to join CU Boulder as an exchange student. There, she began her teaching journey. Drawn back to the U.S., she returned in the Spring of 2022 to pursue an M.A. in the French department at CU Boulder before continuing her academic journey as a PhD student.

Julie’s current research interests took a somewhat unexpected turn during the last French presidential election when Éric Zemmour, a journalist and author known for his far-right views, emerged as a significant figure in the media landscape. His book, La France n'a pas dit son dernier mot, caught Julie’s attention and sparked her curiosity about other fictional works associated with far-right ideologies. Initially driven by curiosity rather than academic intent, this exploration led her to delve into how these authors depict the politically charged landscapes of the French banlieue. Now, she’s eager to formally study these portrayals and their broader implications. She is also fascinated by how these spaces are depicted by authors who hail from the banlieues themselves as they offer perspectives of insiders.

 

Selected Publications

• Catel, Julie. "La disparition de la langue française (2003) d’Assia Djebar: Donner voix aux spectres du passé" Analele Universității „Ovidius” Constanța. Seria Filologie, vol. XXXIV, no. 2, 2023, pp. 218.
   
• Catel, Julie (2024) "De la saleté a la poésie : portrait de la France périphérique dans l’Été des charognes de Simon Johannin," Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies: Vol. 3, Article 4.
  Available at: https://repository.lsu.edu/tete_a_tete/vol3/iss1/4