Franck Andrianarivo Rakotobe

Franck Andrianarivo Rakotobe serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of French Studies and Modern Languages at the American University of Paris. He joined AUP after completing his PhD in French at Emory University in 2021, where he developed expertise in Francophone literatures and cultures.

His educational background includes an MA in English from Université François Rabelais of Tours and a Licence (BA) in English from Université de La Réunion, with additional studies at the University of Sheffield. Prior to his doctoral studies, he gained six years of teaching experience at Harvard University as a Teaching Assistant in French.

Professor Rakotobe's research focuses on Francophone Indian Ocean, African, and Caribbean literatures, cultures, and films. His current book project investigates famadihana, an ancestral exhumation practice from Madagascar, which he employs metaphorically to analyze multigeneric insular narratives from La Réunion, Tromelin, Martinique, and Madagascar. Using a minor transnational approach, he examines how contemporary authors exhume historical figures from 'tombs of oblivion' through fiction, poetry, bande dessinée, and film.

His scholarly work appears in peer-reviewed journals including French Forum and L'Esprit Créateur, contributing to fields such as Indian Ocean Studies, Caribbean Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Francophone African Cinemas, Migration and Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies, and Popular Culture.

• Indian Ocean Studies
• Caribbean Studies
• Postcolonial Studies
• Francophone African Cinemas
• Migration and Diaspora Studies
• Gender Studies
• Popular Culture