Aaron R Prevots
Associate Professor of French
Areas of expertise
All levels of French language, literature and culture. French feminisms; poetry; novels; music; film; translation.
Aaron Prevots, Associate Profesor of French, specializes in 19th-21st century French literature and culture and has published articles on writers such as Arthur Rimbaud, Walt Whitman, Jacques Réda, Philippe Jaccottet, and Yves Bonnefoy. He has translated three volumes of Jacques Réda’s poetry and prose—Return to Calm (Host, 2007), Thirteen Songs of Dark Love (VVV, 2008) and Europes (Host, 2009)—as well as Bernard Vargaftig’s poetry collection As Breathing (VVV, 2010). His scholarly research focuses on how writers reflect and shape identity and emphasizes the creative process: poets who physically explore the world, transcribe the relationships they have seen and felt, and enable the reader to share similar experiences. As an invited writer for the AATF French Review, he evaluates each year recent poetry, prose, and scholarly volumes. He also publishes on music (pop, jazz, chanson), translation, and feminist perspectives. Currently, he is preparing studies of postwar French authors and the 21st-century avant-garde.
Education
PhD, Brown University 2002
Teaching Philosophy
1. To create an energetic, active, student-centered classroom environment
2. To foster empathy, awareness of cultural differences, and strong methodological skills
3. To empower students to act as agents of social change within and across communities
Previous Courses
French I-II-III-IV. Courses on literature, culture and film including Contemporary Women: Writing, Identity, Difference (French 604); Paris, Cities, Parisians (French 604); Contemporary French Culture (French 354); Composition and Culture: French Film (French 334). Capstones on 19th-20th century art, culture and literature.
Publications
BOOKS:
Comme respirer, précédé de Sinon aimer / As Breathing, with If Not Loving. By Bernard Vargaftig. Trans. and postface Aaron Prevots. Halifax: VVV, 2010.
Europes. By Jacques Réda. Trans. and intro. Aaron Prevots. Austin: Host, 2009.
Treize chansons de l'amour noir / Thirteen Songs of Dark Love. By Jacques Réda. Trans. Aaron Prevots. Halifax: VVV, 2008.
Return to Calm. By Jacques Réda. Trans. and intro. Aaron Prevots. Preface Jacques Réda. Austin: Host, 2007.
SELECTED ARTICLES:
"Guillevic and Jacques Réda as ‘Sauvages.’ Notes Guillevic Notes 2:1 (Fall 2012): 55-78.
"The Year in Poetry 2011: Exemplary Trajectories." AATF French Review 86:1 (October 2012): 44-59.
"Accepting the World's Exuberance: Jacques Réda's Trajectory in Poetry and Prose." JAISA 11:1 (2012): 5-16.
"Gender Criticism and Popular Music Studies: Envisioning Women Artists and Why France Begs to Differ." Women in French Studies 19 (2011): 108-119.
"The Year in Poetry 2010: From Bonnefoy to the Blues." AATF French Review 85:1 (October 2011): 42-56.
"Jacques Réda and Jazz: Poetic Improvisations from France." Brilliant Corners 15:1 (Winter 2010): 18-29.
"Entretien avec Jacques Réda." AATF French Review 84:2 (December 2010): 358-369.
"Une certaine façon d'être Suisse romand: Philippe Jaccottet et la justesse de vie et de voix." La Francophonie en Europe: le cas de la Suisse et de la Communauté française de Belgique. Dialogues et Cultures 56 (2010): 76-83.
"En avant la Belgique: Diversité et richesse de l'actualité musicale en Communauté française." La Francophonie en Europe: le cas de la Suisse et de la Communauté française de Belgique. Dialogues et Cultures 56 (2010): 97-106.
"Teaching French through Music." Preface to Instructor's Annotated Edition and Instructor's Resource Manual. Horizons Fourth and Fifth Editions. Manley, Joan H. et al. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning, 2008 and 2010. IG14-16.
"Fragile Signs of Hope in Yves Bonnefoy, Philippe Jaccottet and Jacques Réda." Pacific Coast Philology 42 (2007): 54-72.
"Poésie, swing et Jacques Réda." Archipel: Cahier international de littérature 25 (2007): 60-69.
"French through Songs and Singing: Language and Culture through Music Online." Academic Commons. The Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts. Wabash College. <http://www.academiccommons.org/>. February 2007.
"Poetry as Act: Yves Bonnefoy's 'The Torches.'" The Image of the Twentieth Century in Literature, Media, and Society: Selected Papers, 2000 Conference, Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery. Pueblo, Colorado: University of Southern Colorado, 2000. 502-506.
BOOK CHAPTERS:
"Culture beyond Borders: Jazz as a Realm of Memory in Jacques Réda's L'Improviste." Resounding Pasts: Essays in Literature, Popular Music, and Cultural Memory. Ed. Drago Momcilovic. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011. 177-201.
"'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry' et 'Promontoire': Whitman, Rimbaud, et la vision poétique-prophétique." Lire Rimbaud: approches critiques. Ed. Paul Perron et Sergio Villani. Préface Yves Bonnefoy. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, 2000. 307-323.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES:
"Philippe Jaccottet." 3,000-word entry. The Literary Encyclopedia. 28 July 2010. The Literary Dictionary Company. <http://www.litencyc.com/>.
"Jacques Réda." 3,000-word entry. The Literary Encyclopedia. 7 April 2009. The Literary Dictionary Company. <http://www.litencyc.com/>.
"Yves Bonnefoy." 3,000-word entry. The Literary Encyclopedia. 18 June 2008. The Literary Dictionary Company. <http://www.litencyc.com/>.
REVIEWS:
Original creative works, books in translation, and scholarly studies reviewed for:
AATF French Review
ALTA National Translation Award
Translation Review
Women in French Studies
Honors & Awards
Competitive Faculty Development Grants, Southwestern University, 2006-Present
Elected Representative, Modern Language Association Delegate Assembly, 2008-2011
Tournées Grants for community-wide French Film Festival, sponsored by the French American Cultural Exchange and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, 2007, 2008 and 2009
Finalist, Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation of a Book, Texas Institute of Letters, Return to Calm (Host, 2007), 2009
Sam Taylor Fellowship, General Board of Higher Education & Ministry, 2008
American Association of Teachers of French Summer Scholarship, Seminar in Switzerland and Belgium, sponsored by the AATF, Présence Suisse, and the Communauté française de Belgique Wallonie-Bruxelles, 2008
ACS-Mellon Teaching with Technology Fellowship, Southwestern University, July 2006
ACS Summer Teaching and Learning Workshop Fellowship, Rollins College, 7-12 June 2005
Groups & Affiliations
American Association of Teachers of French (AATF)
American Literary Translators Association (ALTA)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA)
South Central Modern Language Association (SCMLA)
Women in French (WIF)
