Professor Emerita of French

My scholarly interests range over the whole field of French language, culture, and literature, but there are two topics that I particularly enjoy teaching: a) the repercussions of the Revolution of 1789 on nineteenth-century French novels, and b) the autobiographies of twentieth-century women from France and French-speaking areas of Africa and North America. I also love teaching French grammar and composition at the advanced level, for it is thrilling to witness students gaining mastery over a second language.
 
In addition to writing various articles on autobiography, poetry, artists, and dress-code legislation in nineteenth-century France, I have come to love the challenge of translation. This has resulted in the publication of four book-length translations, Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)biography by Anna Klumpke, The Countess von Rudolstadt and La Petite Fadette by George Sand, plus Martine Reid's biography of George Sand entitled George Sand. I have also co-authored a critical edition of the nineteenth-century opéra-comique based on La Petite Fadette.
 
After growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota, I pursued my undergraduate education at Macalester College, the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) and the University of Minnesota, where I earned a B.A. summa cum laude and a M.A in French. I earned my Ph. D. in French literature at the University of Pennsylvania and thoroughly enjoyed teaching at the University of Vermont until June 2021.
 

Publications

Books:

La Petite Fadette, opéra-comique et comédie-vaudeville. Théâtre II (1853-1872)  Annexe in Œuvres complètes de George Sand, directed by Béatrice Didier, Paris:  Éditions Honoré Champion, 2018. Critical edition prepared by Gretchen van Slyke and  Bruce Gustafson, with an introduction, notes, and appendices. 

George Sand, by Martine Reid. Translated from the French. University Park PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018.

La Petite Fadette, by George Sand.  Translated from the French, with an introduction and notes. University Park PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017.

The Countess von Rudolstadt, by George Sand.  Translated from the French, with  an introduction and notes. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.  Paperback edition, 2010. EBook, 2018.

Corps/Décors: Femmes, orgies, parodies, Hommage à Lucienne Frappier Mazur.  Editor, Catherine Nesci; Associate Editors, Gerald Prince and Gretchen van Slyke. Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Editions Rodopi, 1999.

Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography, by Anna Klumpke. Translated from the French, with an introduction, notes, and appendices. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1997. Paperback reprint edition, 2001.

 
Critical Edition:
 
George Sand, La Petite Fadette opéra-comique (first published by Michel Lévy Frères, 1869), edited by Gretchen van Slyke and Bruce Gustafson, with an introduction, notes and appendices. In Oeuvres complètes de George Sand, Théâtre t. II, sous la direction de Béatrice Didier, Paris: Éditions Honoré Champion, 2018.
 
Chapters in Books: 
 
"Autobiographical Matrices and Mothers' Tongues in Nathalie Sarraute's Enfance." Corps/Décors: Femmes, orgies, parodies. Hommage à Lucienne Frappier-Mazur, ed. Catherine Nesci, assoc. eds., Gerald Prince and Gretchen van Slyke, Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Editions Rodopi, 1999, 175-190. 
 
"Militancy in the Making: The Example of Le Bachelier.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, vol. 71 (NCLC-71), ed. Daniel Marowski, Detroit: Gale Research Press, 1999.  Listed in the on-line source database: Literature Resource Center (Gale). Reprinted from Stanford French Review, 11, no. 3 (1987), 331 344.
 
[Translation] “The Conduct of the War and the Beginnings of Defeat” by Elisabeth du Réau. In The French Defeat of 1940:Reassessments, ed. Joel Blatt, Berghahn Press, 1998, 100-125.
 
"Portrait de l'artiste en femme." In Rosa Bonheur (1822 1899), Catalogue of the Rosa Bonheur Exhibition at the Musée des Beaux Arts de Bordeaux and the Musée de l'Ecole de Barbizon, ed. Francis Ribemont, Bordeaux: William Blake & Co., 1997, 76 83.
 
"Rebuilding The Bastille: Women's Dress code Legislation in the Nineteenth Century." In Repression and Expression: Literary and Social Coding in Nineteenth Century France, ed. Carrol F. Coates. New York: Peter Lang, 1996, 209 219. 
 
"Ad dressing the Self: Costume, Gender and Autobiographical Discourse in l'Abbé de Choisy and Rosa Bonheur," in Autobiography. Historiography. Rhetoric: A Festschrift in Honor of Frank Paul Bowman, eds. Mary Donaldson Evans, Lucienne Frappier Mazur and Gerald Prince. Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Editions Rodopi, 1994, 287 302.
 
"Toward a Theory of Artistic Matrimoine: The Case of Rosa Bonheur.” Correspondances: Studies in Literature, History and the Arts in Nineteenth Century France, ed. Keith Busby. Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Rodopi, 1992, 213 222.
 
"Cultural Charisma: Baudelaire and Bourdieu." In Culture, Criticism and Ideology: Proceedings of the Northeastern University Center for Literary Studies, 4 (1986), 17 31. 
 
Articles:
 
"Monsters, New Women and Lady Professors: A Centenary Look Back at Gabrielle    Réval."  Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 30, nos. 3 & 4 (Summer 2002), 346-61.
 
"Gynocentric Matrimony: The Fin-de-Siècle Alliance of Rosa Bonheur and Anna Klumpke." Nineteenth Century Contexts, 20 (1998), 489-502.
 
"The Sexual and Textual Politics of Dress: Rosa Bonheur and Her Cross Dressing Permits." Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 26, nos. 3 & 4 (Spring Summer 1998), 321 335.
 
"Women at War: Skirting the Issue in the French Revolution.” L'Esprit Créateur, 37, no. 1 (Spring 1997), 33 43.
 
[Translation] "The Trauma of 1940: A Disaster and Its Traces" by Stanley Hoffmann. Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques, 22, no. 1 (1996),  287 301. 
 
"L'Auto/biographie de Rosa Bonheur: un testament matrimonial." Romantisme, 85, no. 3 (1994), 37 45.
 
"Who Wears the Pants Here? The Policing of Women's Dress in Nineteenth Century England, Germany and France." Nineteenth Century Contexts, 17, no. 1 (Winter 1993), 17 33.
 
"Does Genius Have A Sex? Rosa Bonheur's Reply". The French American Review, 63, no. 2 (Winter 1992), 12 23.
 
"Reinventing Matrimony: Rosa Bonheur, Her Mother and Her Friends."  Women's Studies   Quarterly, 19, nos. 3 & 4 (Fall/Winter 1991), 59 77.
 
"History in Her Story: Historical Referents in Sand's La Petite Fadette." Romanic Review, 82, no. 1 (Jan. 1991), 49 69.
 
"Militancy in the Making: The Example of Le Bachelier.” Stanford French Review, 11, no. 3 (1987), 331 344.
 
"Metafora e Nostalgia" ["Métaphore et nostalgie," Guido Neri, tr.]  Il Verri 1 2, ottava serie (1987), 39 56. 
 
"Les Epiciers au musée: Baudelaire et l'artiste bourgeois". Romantisme, 55 (1987),55 66.           
"Riot and Revolution in the Salon de 1846.” French Forum, 10, no. 3 (19850, 295 306.
 
"Dans l'intertexte de Baudelaire et de Proudhon: pourquoi faut il assommer les pauvres?"  Romantisme, 45 (1984), 57 77.
 
"A la recherche du langage: 'L'Après midi d'un faune.'" Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 12, nos. 1 & 2 (1983), 168 184.
 
"Le Narrataire et l'autobiographie." Francofonia, 2 (1982), 19 33.
 
"Cherchez la femme: une lecture maistrienne de Baudelaire," Bulletin Baudelairien, 16, no. 2 (1981), 2 5.
 
Lectures and Papers:
 
“Making George Sand Contemporary: How Far Is Too Far?” XVth International George Sand Conference, Tulane University, December 2002. 
 
“Monsters, New Women and Lady Professors: A Centenary Look Back at Gabrielle Réval,” Colloquium in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, October 1998. -- Also presented to the Departmental Research Seminar, November 1998, the Women’s Studies Brown Bag Seminars, September 1999 and Elder Hostel, March 2001.
 
"Rosa Bonheur and Her Cross Dressing Permits," for Breaking the Mold: A Symposium on Rosa Bonheur presented by the Dahesh Museum and the Alliance Française/French Institute, New York, February 1998. 
 
"Women at War: Skirting the Issue in the French Revolution," Women, Sexuality and Violence: Re visioning Public Policy, The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, March April 1995.
 
"Ad dressing Dress: Rosa Bonheur's Hommification," Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara, October 1994 .  Also presented to the Departmental Research Seminar, University of Vermont, November 1994.
 
"Gynocentric Matrimony: A French American Connection," Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century French Studies, The College of William & Mary, April 1994.
 
"Scaring Women Out of Their Pants: Inside the Law of 7 November 1800," Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, University of Kansas, October 1993. 
 
"Skirting Women's Issues in the Revolution: The Underpinnings of the Law of 7 November 1800," Aphra Behn Society Conference, University of Southern Maine at Portland, September 1993.
 
"Permissions de travestissement: The Politics of Rosa Bonheur's Vestiary Protocol, French/Francophone Literature and the Other Arts, Bryn Mawr College, March 1993.
 
"Rebuilding the Bastille: Women's Dress Code Legislation in Nineteenth Century France," Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, S.U.N.Y. Binghamton, October 1992.
 
"Who Wears The Pants Here? The Policing of Women's Dress in Nineteenth Century England, Germany and France," Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies, Loyola University, April 1992.
 
"Toward a Theory of Artistic Matrimoine: The Case of Rosa Bonheur, "Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, University of Oklahoma, October 1990. Also presented to the Departmental Research Seminar, University of Vermont, November 1991.
 
"Feminist Revisions of Freud: Nancy Chodorow and The Reproduction of Mothering," Faculty Seminar on Feminism, University of Vermont, June 1989.
 
"What's the Matter Here? Historical Referents in La Petite Fadette," Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies, Portland State University, April 1989. Also presented to the Departmental Research Seminar, University of Vermont, October 1990.
 
"Fluids for Thought", Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, University of Michigan, October 1988. 
 
"The Art and Science of Calorique," Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies, San José State University and the University of California at Santa Cruz, April 1987.
 
"Romantics Gone Awry", Symposium on L'Expérience Culturelle: France 1840 1860  sponsored by the Fleming Museum of the University of Vermont, March 1987. 
 
"Grocers in the Museum," Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, October 1986. Also presented to the Departmental Research Seminar, University of Vermont, November 1985.
 
"Cultural Charisma: Bourdieu and Baudelaire", Conference on Culture, Criticism and Ideology sponsored by the Northeastern University Center for Literary Studies, Northeastern University, March 1986.
 
"Militancy in the Making: The Example of Le Bachelier", Modern Languages Association, Chicago, December 1985.
 
"Epic Heroes in Modern Paris: Baudelaire on Delacroix and Daumier", Humanities Colloquium, Saint Michael's College,  March 1985.
 
"Riot and Revolution in Baudelaire's Salon de 1846", Colloquium in Nineteenth Century French Studies, Duke University, November 1984.
 
"Baudelaire and the Bourgeois: Narrative Strategies in the Salon de 1846",  Humanities Colloquium, Saint Michael's College, March 1984.
 
"Le Long Voyage: Baudelaire et Proudhon," Colloquium in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, October 1982.
 
"Baudelaire et Proudhon: vu et connu?", L'Atelier Proudhon at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France, June 1981. 

Awards and Recognition

Dean’s Lecturer Award, 1999.
Co-recipient of a SUGR/FAME grant, 1999.
Grant from the Dean’s Fund, 1998.
Nominee, George V. Kidder Award for Outstanding Teaching, 1994.
UCRS Summer Research Fellowship, University of Vermont, 1986.
Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, 1982.
Dean's Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, l979.
Alternate, Fulbright Hays Grant, 1979.
Jusserand Travel Fellowship, 1978.
Graduate Teaching Fellow Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Pennsylvania, 1978.
Teaching Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 1976 1978.
Fellowship to the Bryn Mawr Institute of French Studies, Avignon, France, 1977.
Teaching Assistantship, University of Minnesota, 1974 1976.
National Merit Scholarship, 1969.
J.J. Hill Fellowship in the Humanities, 1968.
National Science Foundation Scholarship in Geology, 1967.

Associations and Affiliations


Professor Gretchen van Slyke

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Nineteenth-century novel and society; contemporary women's autobiography in France and Senegal; translation

Education

  • Ph.D. French, University of Pennsylvania

Contact

Phone:
  • (802) 656-1370
Office Location:

517F Waterman

Courses Taught

  • FREN 052: Intermediate Reading and Conversation II
  • FREN 101: Writing Workshop
  • FREN 104: Contemporary France
  • FREN 109: French Grammar in Review
  • FREN 112: French Lit in Context II
  • FREN 132: Contemporary France
  • FREN 156: Masterworks II
  • FREN 201: Advanced Composition and Conversation
  • FREN 209: Advanced Grammar
  • FREN 266: Rev&React in 19th Century Narrative
  • FREN 279: Women's Autobiographies
  • FREN 289: African Literature: French Expression
  • FREN 295: Advanced Special Topics: Romans et Revolutions
  • FREN 295: Advanced Special Topics: Women's Autobiographies
  • FREN 296: Advanced Special Topics: Modern Autobiography