French Professor Kathy Comfort Publishes Book on Marginalized Populations in French WWI Literature

The book cover of “Representations of Marginalized Populations in French WWI Literature: Muted Voices” and professor Kathy Comfort.

Kathy Comfort, professor of French and vice chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, just published her latest monograph, titled Representations of Marginalized Populations in French WWI Literature: Muted Voices, which embodies the intersection of her research interests: early 20th-century French literature, war novels, memories and representations of illness.

Comfort says, “I focus on the experiences of those who faced war but whose stories are often overshadowed by military combatants: women, children, the ‘tirailleurs négalais’ (French colonial troops), wounded veterans and veterans returning from the trenches.”

Informed by trauma studies as well as literary history, Comfort’s book enhances the collective understanding of the way the war affected those on the sidelines and contributes to the decentering of the French World War I narrative. This book is of interest to scholars of 20th-century French literature, culture and history. 

Representations of Marginalized Populations in French WWI Literature: Muted Voices was inspired by Comfort’s previous book, entitled Refiguring ‘Les Années Noires’: Literary Representations of the Nazi Occupation (2018, Lexington Books).

This spring, Comfort is teaching Honors French (FREN 399VH), Introduction to Business French (FREN 4333) and Special Investigations (FREN 475V). 

Please find more information on professor Comfort’s book.

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.