Sophie Basch

Sophie Basch is a Professor of French Literature at Sorbonne University, specializing in 19th- and 20th-century French literature, cultural history, and Japonism. She holds senior membership at the Institut universitaire de France (2020–2025) and is a member of the Académie royale de langue et littérature française de Belgique (elected 2016). Her research bridges literary history with art history, focusing on cultural transfers, Orientalism, and the intersection of arts and politics.

• Positions: Professor at Sorbonne University (2007–present), University of Poitiers (2002–2007), and University of Haute-Alsace (1998–2002).
• Education: PhD in Literary History from Université Libre de Bruxelles (1994), studies under Raymond Trousson and Roland Mortier.

Research Interests: Japonism’s role in Western modernity, literature and archaeology, cultural exchanges between France and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the representation of the circus in literature. Her work includes monographs like *Le Mirage grec* (1995) and *Rastaquarium* (2014), and edited volumes on Proust and Orientalism.

Awards: Includes the 2024 Society for the Study of Japonisme Award, 2023 Prix Paul Marmottan, and Chevalier des Palmes Académiques (2014). Her scholarship has been featured in *La Recherche* and *Le Monde*.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the French School of Athens and the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale on projects like *Alexandria ad Europam* (2007). She co-edited *Cahier de l’Herne: Orhan Pamuk* (2017) and contributed to exhibition catalogues at the Grand Palais and Centre Pompidou.