Cécile Roudeau

Cécile Roudeau is a Professor of American Literature at Université Paris Cité's Faculty of Anglophone Studies, where she has been employed since 2015. Previously, she served as Maître de conférences (Associate Professor) at Université Sorbonne nouvelle's English Department from 2007-2015, and as Agrégée-répétitrice at École normale supérieure's LILA Department from 1998-2007.

She completed her HDR (Habilitation à diriger des recherches) in 2014 with the thesis "Ce que peut la littérature : vers une singularité sans concept. Parcours de la littérature américaine" at Université Sorbonne nouvelle. Her doctoral thesis in 2007 examined New England regionalism through the works of Sarah Orne Jewett.

Roudeau's research focuses on American literature of the long nineteenth century, with particular attention to New England regionalist writings, women writers, gender studies, political history, and environmental humanities. Her early work reconsiders the notion of 'place' in New England regionalist writing, while her current project examines the relationship between literature and state-building in American democracy.

Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on the intersection of literature, politics, and gender in nineteenth-century America, with recent works exploring critical state studies, democratic theory, and environmental humanities. She has published extensively on writers including Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and James Fenimore Cooper.

As a leader in her field, Roudeau directs the LARCA research unit (UMR 8225) and co-leads the Environmental Humanities initiative and the nineteenth-century studies seminar A19.

She has supervised numerous graduate students in areas including American literature, nineteenth-century regionalist writings, New England women writers, gender studies, literature and political history, and environmental humanities.