Resistance and Defiance in Francophone World(s) (2025 Midwest Modern Language Association Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Resistance and Defiance in Francophone World(s)

We invite papers for an in-person panel, “French: Cultural Issues,” at the 2025 Midwest Modern Language Association Conference themed “The Humanities is Where Hope Lives," which will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Marquette University, 14-16 November 2025. 

As authoritarian regimes rise and democratic institutions face unprecedented challenges, the Francophone world has long been a site of resistance and defiance against oppression. From colonial-era struggles, liberation movements in the Francophone world to contemporary movements that have challenged political repression, systemic injustice, and cultural erasure both inside hexagonal France, in its overseas departments and territories, as well as neocolonial spaces in the rest of the Francophone world. As a result, acts of defiance have consistently shaped histories, literatures, and identities across diverse Francophone spaces. 

We invite papers that explore traditions of resistance within the global Francophone space. This panel seeks to examine how individuals and communities have responded to authoritarianism and/or engaged in practices of resistance through literature, activism, cultural expression, and political engagement. 

Papers might consider these topics (not limited to) within the Francophone context:

• Literary and artistic resistance in Francophone spaces
• The role of women in resistance movements
• Digital and social media activism in the Francophone world
• Postcolonial resistance and decolonial thought
• Memory, trauma, and resilience in the face of oppression
• The intersection of race, gender, and class in defiance narratives
• Political dissidence
• Exile literature
• Cultural traditions as sites of defiance
• Submission Guidelines:

Abstracts (250-300 words) should be submitted by April 25, 2025. 

Please include a brief biography (100 words) with your submission 

Submissions and inquiries should be sent to Timothy Lomeli (twlomeli@gmail.com).