Research

Dr. Defraeye鈥檚 research interests include but are not limited to the following:

  • Qu茅b茅cois literature: terroir, migrant and indigenous literatures
  • Franco-Ontarian literature
  • Theories in ecocriticism and ecopoetics
  • Environmental literature
  • Nature in romanticism and transcendentalism

Dr. Defraeye鈥檚 research has been published in journals Voix Plurielles, @nalyses, 脡tudes litt茅raires, and Nouvelles 脡tudes Francophones and in many collective works. He recently edited a special issue of Nouvelles 脡tudes francophones (2018) focusing on the perception of nature and space in Qu茅b茅cois literature (19th-21st centuries) and co-edited a special issue of 脡tudes litt茅raires (2019) on ecopoetics in contemporary French and Qu茅b茅cois literatures.

 

Dr. Defraeye鈥檚 new research project analyses the essential contribution of Qu茅b茅cois indigenous literature to our understanding of the natural environment and the epistemological crisis it is going through. Focusing on local activism and resilience, authors such as Bernard Assiniwi, Jos茅phine Bacon, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui and Rita Mestokosho, as well as publishing houses such as M茅moire d鈥檈ncrier in Montreal and Hannenorak in Wendake, have been carrying traditional knowledge on environmental issues since their beginnings. Dr. Defraeye hopes an investigation of this emerging body of works will help put forward the expertise of the multiple voices of Inuit, Metis and First nations and bring a new approach to environmental issues.

 

Dr. Defraeye is the French editor for the journal The Goose and the co-founder and the French editor for the bilingual cultural platform Artis Natura. He is also the Vice-President (Francophone section) of the Association for Canadian and Qu茅bec Literatures (2019-2020).