Research Profile

BIOGRAPHY

Presently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of French at University College Cork, Ireland, I am working on the research project Algeria: Nation and Transnationalism 1988-2010, which is funded by the IRCHSS. I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY), in December of 2011.  My dissertation, Shuttling the Archive: Mediterranean Crossings, Impossible Mourning, Ghostly Navettes, is currently being revised into a book manuscript. 

Research Interests

I specialize in postcolonial francophone literature from the Maghreb, and I approach my research and teaching in an interdisciplinary manner drawing upon colonial and postcolonial histories, critical theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism. My research centers on the complex interplay of transnational memory between France and North Africa, as well as between Britain and its former colonies.

Publications

Book Chapters

 YearPublication
(2013)'SUR/VEIL: the veil as blank(et) signifier'
MacDonald, Megan C. (2013) 'SUR/VEIL: the veil as blank(et) signifier' In: Jasmin Zine, Lisa Taylor, and Hilary E. Davis (eds). CONTESTED IMAGINARIES: Reading Muslim Women Reading Back: Transnational Feminist Reading Practices, Pedagogy and Ethical Concerns. London: Palgrave. [Details]
(2012)'Suicide Falls Through the Cracks: A Symptomatic Reading of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart'
MacDonald, Megan C. (2012) 'Suicide Falls Through the Cracks: A Symptomatic Reading of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart' In: Chima Anyadike and Kehinde A. Ayoola (eds). Blazing the Path: Fifty Years of Things Fall Apart. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational. [Details]
(2008)'Listening at the Neighborhood Well: Myung Mi Kim's Penultimate Poem face-to-facing Cerith Wyn Evans's Illuminated Languaging'
MacDonald, M (2008) 'Listening at the Neighborhood Well: Myung Mi Kim's Penultimate Poem face-to-facing Cerith Wyn Evans's Illuminated Languaging' In: Michael Cross and Andrew Rippeon (eds). Building is a Process / Light is an Element: Essays and excursions for Myung Mi Kim. Buffalo, NY: small press. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2013)'The trans-Mediterranean navette: Assia Djebar's preface to the Dictionnaire des mots francais d'origine arabe and la francophonie as archive'
MacDonald, M (2013) 'The trans-Mediterranean navette: Assia Djebar's preface to the Dictionnaire des mots francais d'origine arabe and la francophonie as archive' [Details]
(2013)'“Humanism at the Limit: The Prison of the Postcolonial Nation in Jacques Audiard’s ‘Un prophète’”'
MacDonald, M (2013) '“Humanism at the Limit: The Prison of the Postcolonial Nation in Jacques Audiard’s ‘Un prophète’”' [Details]
(2011)'Lacunae, erasure, and the impossibility of bearing witness in Boualem Sansal's Le Village de l'Allemand (2008)'
MacDonald, Megan C. (2011) 'Lacunae, erasure, and the impossibility of bearing witness in Boualem Sansal's Le Village de l'Allemand (2008)'   [Details]

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2012)Postcolonial Bodies: Annual Conference of the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies (SFPS),
MacDonald, M (2012) “Disposability/Mobility, Or France/Algeria in Jacques Audiard’s ‘Un prophète’”. [Oral Presentation], Postcolonial Bodies: Annual Conference of the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies (SFPS), Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies (IGRS), University of London, London, UK , 16-NOV-12 - 17-NOV-12
(2012)Entangled Legacies: Enlightenment, Colonialism and the Holocaust,
MacDonald, M. (2012) “‘Muselmanns everywhere’: thinking through the figure of the Muselmann in a postcolonial frame”. [Oral Presentation], Entangled Legacies: Enlightenment, Colonialism and the Holocaust, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany , 28-SEP-12 - 29-SEP-12
(2012)Masterclass on Mediterranean Identities,
MacDonald, M (2012) “Survival or Drowning? Theorizing the Mediterranean ‘navette’ as reading practice”. [Invited Oral Presentation], Masterclass on Mediterranean Identities, University College Cork, Ireland , 05-JUN-12 - 06-JUN-12
(2012)Re-Imagining Nations: Communities, Nation-State, the Maghreb, the Middle East and the Mediterranean,
MacDonald, M; Cornet, C; Benmalek, A; (2012) Discussant for panel with Algerian writer Anouar Benmalek and French journalist Catherine Cornet. [Invited Oral Presentation], Re-Imagining Nations: Communities, Nation-State, the Maghreb, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Italy , 28-MAY-12 - 29-MAY-12
(2012)Collapse/Catastrophe/Change - American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference,
MacDonald, M (2012) Co-organized panel 'Muselmann/Muslim: Memory, Translation, Race'; presented paper: “Bearing Witness at the Limit: Testimony and Lacunae in Boualem Sansal’s Le Village de l’Allemand”. [Oral Presentation], Collapse/Catastrophe/Change - American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island , 29-MAR-12 - 01-APR-12
(2012)Imagining Contemporary Algerias: Communities, Nation-State, the Maghreb, and the Mediterranean,
MacDonald, M (2012) Opening Remarks: Constellations and Inspirations: Nedjma across the Maghreb. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], Imagining Contemporary Algerias: Communities, Nation-State, the Maghreb, and the Mediterranean, University College Cork, Ireland , 07-SEP-12 - 08-SEP-12
(2011)Brassages franco-maghrébins/Franco-Maghrebi Crossings,
MacDonald, M (2011) “When is l’Algérie?: Death Across Borders in Assia Djebar’s Le Blanc de l’Algérie”. [Oral Presentation], Brassages franco-maghrébins/Franco-Maghrebi Crossings, Florida State University, Tallahassee , 03-NOV-11 - 05-NOV-11
(2011)Annual Moroccan Fulbright Symposium,
MacoDonald, M (2011) 'Present-ing the Archive: parsing gender and la francophonie in Moroccan literature'. [Oral Presentation], Annual Moroccan Fulbright Symposium, Rabat, Morocco , 13-MAY-11 - 13-MAY-11
(2010)Gender Across Borders IV: Globalisms,
MacDonald, M (2010) Respondent for 'Reading Feminism Reading: A Special Undergraduate Panel'. [Invited Oral Presentation], Gender Across Borders IV: Globalisms, SUNY, Buffalo , 02-APR-10 - 03-APR-10
(2010)Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and Contemporary Society,
MacDonald, M (2010) “Surveillance wears hijab”. [Oral Presentation], Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and Contemporary Society, University of Toronto/York University, Toronto, Canada , 03-JUN-10 - 05-JUN-10
(2010)Canadian Sociological Association’s Social Sciences and Humanities Congress,
MacDonald, M (2010) Panel presentation on chapter in forthcoming book project CONTESTED IMAGINARIES. [Oral Presentation], Canadian Sociological Association’s Social Sciences and Humanities Congress, Montreal, Canada , 31-MAY-10 - 01-JUN-10
(2009)ACLA Annual Conference ‘Global Languages, Local Cultures’,
MacDonald, M (2009) 'SUR/VEIL: the veil as blank(et) signifier'. [Oral Presentation], ACLA Annual Conference ‘Global Languages, Local Cultures’, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts , 26-MAR-09 - 29-MAR-09
(2008)Transnational Dialogues: De-centering the academic debate on Global Feminisms, GLCA Annual Conference,
MacDonald, M (2008) “Lessons in Unwanted Grooming: Stereotypes and Imported Husbands in The Buddha of Suburbia and ‘Yasmin’”. [Oral Presentation], Transnational Dialogues: De-centering the academic debate on Global Feminisms, GLCA Annual Conference, Kenyon College, Ohio , 26-SEP-08 - 28-SEP-08
(2008)A Symposium on 'Dura',
MacDonald, M (2008) “Listening at the Neighborhood Well: Myung Mi Kim’s Penultimate Poem face-to-facing Cerith Wyn Evans’s Illuminated Languaging”. [Oral Presentation], A Symposium on 'Dura', SUNY, Buffalo , 21-NOV-08 - 21-NOV-08
(2008)Woman, Home and Nation: Private and Public Spaces, Annual Romance Languages Conference,
MacDonald, M (2008) “The ‘obstinate budget that ought to balance but wouldn’t’: Female Narration as Unequal Equation in the National Allegory”. [Oral Presentation], Woman, Home and Nation: Private and Public Spaces, Annual Romance Languages Conference, SUNY Binghampton, New York , 14-MAR-08 - 15-MAR-08

Book Review

 YearPublication
(2012)Review: Francophone Women Writers: Feminisms, Postcolonialisms, Cross-Cultures.
MacDonald, M (2012) Review: Francophone Women Writers: Feminisms, Postcolonialisms, Cross-Cultures. Book Reviews [Details]
(2011)Review: Violent Modernity: France in Algeria.
MacDonald, M (2011) Review: Violent Modernity: France in Algeria. Book Reviews [Details]
(2009)The Imperial Gays/Gaze: Queer Masculinities in a homonational frame.
MacDonald, M (2009) The Imperial Gays/Gaze: Queer Masculinities in a homonational frame. Book Reviews [Details]

Review Articles

 YearPublication
(2010)Conference Report: Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and Contemporary Society.
MacDonald, M (2010) Conference Report: Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and Contemporary Society. Review Articles [Details]

Professional Activities

Honours and Awards

 YearTitleAwarding Body
2012Postdoctoral Fellowship, Algeria: Nation and Transnationalism, 1988-2010 Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS)
2010Fulbright Grant, Morocco Institute for International Education (IIE) / Fulbright Association
2008Critical Language Scholarship for intensive Urdu language Study Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS)
2007Presidential Fellowship (2007-2011) SUNY Buffalo
2007Dean's Scholarship (2007-2011) SUNY Buffalo
2007Teaching Fellowship (2007-2011) SUNY Buffalo

Associations

 AssocationFunctionFrom / To
Fulbright Alumni Association (FAA) member/
Modern Language Association (MLA) member/
Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies (SFPS) member/
Middle East Studies Association (MESA) member/
American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) member/
American Institute of Maghrib Studies (AIMS) member/

Education

 YearInstituionQualificationSubject
2011State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY) PhDComparative Literature
2006School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) MAComparative Literature (Africa/Asia)
2003Boston College BAEnglish and French

Languages

 LanguageReadingWritingSpeaking
French FluentFluentFluent
Arabic BasicBasicFunctional

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

My teaching interests include:
Francophone postcolonial literatures from the Maghreb, the politics of national memory, theorizing the transnational Mediterranean, the (re)emergent Pakistani novel, poststructuralist theory, postcolonial theory, feminist theory, psychoanalysis.

Contact details

Search profiles by name

Search profiles by topic

School of Food and Nutritional Sciences

School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Room 240 Food Science Building, University College, Cork

Top