Hanan Elsayed

Hanan Elsayed is an Associate Professor specializing in French and Francophone Studies and African Studies. Her academic work explores intersections of French and Francophone literatures from Africa and the Mashreq, Sufi thought, Islamic historiography, race and identity in France, and colonial legacies.

Research Interests

• 20th- and 21st-century French and Francophone literatures (Africa/Mashreq)
• Sufi poetics in French and Arabic contexts
• Early Islamic historiography
• Race and identity in France
• French colonial discourse and its global impacts

Publications highlight her focus on postcolonial theory, Islamic narratives in literature, and critical analyses of race and identity. Her monograph L’Histoire sacrée de l’Islam dans la fiction maghrébine (2016) and co-edited volume Balibar and the Citizen Subject (2017) are central to her contributions. Articles span topics like Camus’s The Stranger, Ibn Arabi’s subversive poetics, and Qur'anic reinterpretation in Francophone works.