Isabelle Chen
Assistant Professor of Global French Studies
- POS 347D
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
Isabelle Chen joined LCAL in the fall of 2025. She teaches French language and culture at all levels, as well as courses on cultural studies and translation.
Her first book, currently in the final stages of preparation, analyzes contemporary French-language novels through the lens of translation, examining how diasporic authors use translation as both a stylistic strategy and a thematic device to illustrate their experience of migration and interculturality. Dr. Chen's next research project focuses on representations of Chinese identities in French literature and media. She has also published articles on children's literature and graphic novels.
Education
Ph.D., French Literature and Culture, Princeton University
M.A., French Literature and Culture, Princeton University
B.A., English (Creative Writing) and French, Wellesley College
Areas of Interest
- Migration, diaspora and postcolonial studies
- Translation theory and practice
- 20th- and 21st-century Francophone literature and culture
- Race and ethnicity in contemporary France
- Children’s literature
Courses Taught
- 82-303/416: Language and Power in the Francophone World
- 82-101: Elementary French I
- 82-282: Interpreting Global Texts and Cultures
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
“Whose Voices?: Authorship, Translation, and Diversity in Contemporary Children’s Literature,” in In the Face of Adversity: Translating Difference and Dissent, University College London Press, 2023.
Peer-reviewed Articles
“Writing in the ‘alterity industry’: Self-reflexivity and satire in Francophone literature,” Modern
and Contemporary France, vol. 34, no. 2, 2026, pg. 235-249.
“Nation, narration, translation: Hybrid forms in Lydie Salvayre’s Pas pleurer,” French Forum, vol. 49, nos. 1-2, 2025, pg. 77-93.
“L’indépendance de l’entre-deux dans le récit initiatique contemporain.” Nouvelles Études Francophones, vol. 40, no. 1, 2025, pg. 160-171.
“‘We must leave traces’: Media and Memory in Two Graphic Novels,” Contemporary French and Francophone Studies: SITES, vol. 27, no. 3, 2023.
Translations
“Atlas Scarred: Traumatic Analogies in Patrick Chamoiseau’s Poetics.” Samia Kassab-Charfi. Translated from French to English. Yale French Studies 147, 2026.