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Helen Solterer

Professor of Romance Studies
Romance Studies
Box 90257, Durham, NC 27708-0257
217B Language Center, Durham, NC 27708
Office hours Wednesdays, 5-6 pm.
& by appt.  

Overview


My research and teaching focus on premodern literature and culture in French and their interplay with contemporary thought; twentieth-century French cultural history; writing through gender.

An Almanach of Timely Fictions, the book I'm currently completing, spans literature and graphic arts.  Published works include: Migrants shaping Europe, past and present: Multilingual literatures, arts, and cultures, ed. with Vincent Joos (Manchester, 2022);  James Joyce Remembered, edition 2022 (C.P. Curran), ed. with Alice Ryan (UCD, 2022); Un Moyen Âge républicain: les paradoxes du théâtre en temps de guerre (Presses Paris-Sorbonne, 2014) Medieval Roles for Modern Times (Penn State 2010); The Master and Minerva (California 1995); European Medieval Studies Under Fire, 1919-1945, an edited collection (JMEMS, Duke. 1995).  

Students interested in researching premodern fiction in French are particularly welcome. 

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of Romance Studies · 2010 - Present Romance Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published December 13, 2022
2022 in Review: Duke Expertise in the Opinion Pages
Published February 16, 2022
When James Joyce's Lingua Franca Is a Family Affair
Published April 28, 2020
Duke Guggenheim Fellow Helen Solterer on What Makes Literature Feel Timely

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Recent Publications


Migrants shaping Europe, past and present: A roundtable

Journal Article Postmedieval · June 1, 2024 Critics of early Arabic, French, Italian, and Spanish literatures, and a historian of religions engage with questions raised by the collection, Migrants shaping Europe, past and present: Multilingual literatures, arts, and cultures (Manchester University P ... Full text Cite

The master and Minerva: Disputing women in French medieval culture

Book · September 1, 2023 Can words do damage? For medieval culture, the answer was unambiguously yes. And as Helen Solterer contends, in French medieval culture the representation of women exemplified the use of injurious language. Solterer investigates the debates over women betw ... Cite

Migrants shaping Europe, past and present: Multilingual literatures, arts, and cultures

Book · November 8, 2022 This comparative volume examines the sustained contribution of migrants to Europe’s literatures, social cultures, and arts over centuries. Europe has never been a continent bounded by the seas that surround it. In premodern times, migrants imprinted the la ... Open Access Link to item Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Toronto (Canada) · 1986 Ph.D.

External Links


Duke Faculty Page