Isabelle Chen
Assistant Professor of French & Francophone Studies
- POS 347D
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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
Bio
Isabelle Chen joined the Department of Languages, Cultures, & Applied Linguistics in the fall of 2025 after completing her Ph.D. in French literature and culture. She teaches French language and Francophone culture courses at all levels, in addition to more generalized seminars in cultural studies.
Dr. Chen’s first book, currently in the final stages of preparation, analyzes recent 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. Her next research project focuses on representations of Chinese identities in French literature and media.
Areas of Interest
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- 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
- 82-282 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, edited by Thomas Nolden, University College London Press, 2023.
Journal Articles
“L’indépendance de l’entre-deux dans le récit initiatique contemporain.” Nouvelles Études Francophones, vol. 40, no. 1, forthcoming 2026.
“The right to write: Self-reflexivity and satire in francophone literature.” Modern and Contemporary France, 2024.
“‘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,” by Samia Kassab-Charfi, translated for Yale French Studies, forthcoming 2026.