Dean de la Motte

Dr. Dean de la Motte is a Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at Salve Regina University. His expertise spans French language, literature, and culture across all levels, with specialized focus on 19th-century France (particularly Paris, 1830-1870), France under German occupation, contemporary/multicultural France, Francophone literature (African and Caribbean), utopias and dystopias, 19th-century European narrative, the Brontës, Newport in the Gilded Age, and creative writing. He has also served as a chief academic officer and provost at Salve from 2000-2014.

• B.A. in Comparative Literature, University of California, Santa Barbara (1983)
• M.A. in Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1985)
• Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1990)

Dr. de la Motte’s research bridges historical and contemporary literary studies, emphasizing the intersection of culture, politics, and narrative. His work on 19th-century France explores modernity’s emergence through mass media and urban life, while his engagement with the Brontës and dystopian themes highlights literary innovation across eras. He also contributes to creative writing, publishing his first novel in 2022 and working on a second.

His publications reflect interdisciplinary rigor. The 2022 novel Oblivion reconstructs the voice of Branwell Brontë, engaging with Gothic fiction and gender studies. Earlier edited works, such as Making the News (1999), analyze 19th-century French media history, and Approaches to Teaching Stendhal’s The Red and the Black (1999), investigate pedagogical frameworks for European literature. These works collectively underscore his commitment to narrative analysis and cross-cultural dialogue.