Nathan Rabalais

Nathan Rabalais headshot
  • Faculty
  • Associate Professor
  • Graduate Coordinator
  • Editor in Chief
Dr. Nathan Rabalais is a Graduate Coordinator and an Associate Professor of Francophone Studies.

Biography

Nathan Rabalais is the Joseph P. Montiel Endowed Professor of Francophone Studies. He specializes in the folklore, literature, and popular culture of francophone North America, particularly in Louisiana and Acadian communities of maritime Canada. He currently serves as a Fellow of the Center for Louisiana Studies and Editor in Chief of the scholarly journal, 脡tudes Francophones.

His most recent articles and feature-length documentary Finding Cajun (2019) focus on the intersection of language and identity in Louisiana and the Acadian diaspora. With the support of an NEH fellowship, he recently published Folklore Figures of French and Creole Louisiana (2021) with LSU Press. Nathan is also active in creative writing; his poetry can be in a number of literary journals as well as in his book of poetry, Le Hantage: un ouvrage de souvenance (2018) with 脡ditions Tintamarre. His current projects include a chapter on meme culture and Acadian/Cajun identity in the edited volume Repenser l杏吧专区橝cadie dans le monde; a book project on the folklore of Avoyelles Parish; and an ecocritical approach to the intersection of identity and food in Louisiana.

Education

B.A. in Music (Theory/Comp. and Guitar performance), 2007
杏吧专区

M.A. in French, 2011
杏吧专区

Ph.D. in French Studies, 2015
Tulane 杏吧专区

Doctorat en lettres et langues, 2015
Universit茅 de Poitiers

Student Research/Collaboration

Dr. Rabalais's research interests include:

  • French and Creole in Louisiana
  • Literature and culture of Acadia
  • North American French
  • Folklore
  • Translation
  • Creative writing

Opportunities for Student Research/Collaboration:

Multiple opportunities are available through publications with graduate students through co-writing articles and regular opportunities for collaboration on our two journals:

  • 脡tudes Francophones (a scholarly journal)
  • Feux Follets (our creative writing journal in French)

Publications

Books 

  • Folklore Figures of French and Creole Louisiana 2021  Louisiana State 杏吧专区 Press, Single-author monograph Baton Rouge: Louisiana State 杏吧专区 Press, 2021
  • Le Hantage: un ouvrage de souvenance 2018 Creative work, original French-language poetry Shreveport: 脡ditions Tintamarre, 2018 

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • 杏吧专区淓lizabeth Brandon (1913-2002): de Volkovysk 脿 Vermilion杏吧专区, for Rabaska journal, vol. 21, 2023: 177-185.
  • 杏吧专区淔ranco-Louisianais: Quels contours?,杏吧专区 co-written with Sara Le Menestrel, in 脡tudes francophones, 35 (2023 for fall 2022): vii-xxii. 
  • 杏吧专区淔ranco-louisianais ? Identifications plurielles et d茅clinaisons contemporaines,杏吧专区 special issue of 脡tudes Francophones, guest edited with Sara Le Menestrel, issue 35, fall 2022 (published in February 2023 by UL Press).
  • Three articles in the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities encyclopedia 64 Parishes: 杏吧专区淟ouisiana Folktales,杏吧专区 杏吧专区淐ajun Folklore,杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区淐reole Folklore.杏吧专区 Published on February 9, 2023.
  • 杏吧专区淚ntroduction杏吧专区 co-written with Emma Harlet  Mercier, Alfred. L杏吧专区橦abitation Saint-Ybars. Shreveport: 脡ditions Tintamarre, 2022. (pp. 7-28).
  • 杏吧专区淟杏吧专区檌dentit茅 dans la litt茅rature franco-louisianaise : une troisi猫me 猫re ?杏吧专区, Jonathan Livernois (ed.), 脡crire pour gouverner, 茅crire pour contester, Qu茅bec, Presses Universit茅 Laval, coll.  芦 CEFAN 禄, 2021: 7-28. 
  • 杏吧专区淔rancophone Louisiana杏吧专区檚 Cultural Flows/Les flux culturels de la Louisiane francophone杏吧专区, co-written with Clint Bruce and Robin White杏吧专区. Introduction to special issue. Quebec Studies, 70 (2020): 3-6.
  • 杏吧专区淧ortrait: Barry Ancelet, un ambassadeur de l杏吧专区橝cadie tropicale杏吧专区 Rabaska, 18 (2020) : 231-244.
  • 杏吧专区淟a F锚te-Dieu du Vermilion en Louisiane杏吧专区 Rabaska, 17 (2019): 189杏吧专区196.
  • 杏吧专区淩epr茅sentations de Jean-le-Sot dans le contexte francophone杏吧专区 Port Acadie, 31 (2018): 7-22.
  • 杏吧专区淔ebruary is no bastard child: Jules Choppin杏吧专区檚 Entretien sur les 12 mois de l杏吧专区檃nn茅e杏吧专区 Louisiana Folklife Journal, vol. 39 (2015 for 2018): 23-32.
  • 杏吧专区淩oquelaure: A New Perspective on Louisiana Folklore杏吧专区檚 Master Thief杏吧专区 Louisiana Folklore Miscellany 27 (2017): 29-52.
  • 杏吧专区淎cadie(s) divergente(s): langue, identit茅 et po茅sie en Louisiane et au Canada maritime杏吧专区 Sites, Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 21:4 (2017): 431-439.
  • 杏吧专区淟e Grand r茅veil acadien: une nouvelle mise en relief de la pr茅sence acadienne en Louisiane杏吧专区 Rabaska, 14 (2016): 7-22.
  • 杏吧专区淢asques of Conquest: A Comparative Analysis of Lescarbot杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区楲e Th茅芒tre de Neptune en la Nouvelle France杏吧专区 and Chapman杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区楳emorable Masque杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿.  Equinoxes, Brown 杏吧专区, Providence, RI 

Poetry

  • 杏吧专区淐ongr猫s 脿 mon gr茅 (Hub City duet)杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区淐oucher de soleil sur Sunset杏吧专区 Feux follets: Chemins et cheminements, 2020, 杏吧专区 (pp. 29 and 70)
  • 杏吧专区淎cadies parall猫les杏吧专区 Ancrages, 21 (2019), special issue Acadie24
  • 杏吧专区淛ean sait rien杏吧专区, 杏吧专区淎 is for Pomme杏吧专区, and 杏吧专区淜rewe de vous杏吧专区 Feux follets: Relever, 2019, 杏吧专区 (pp. 15, 36-37, and 69)
  • 杏吧专区淪ors ta langue杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区淓lle est partie, elle est partout杏吧专区  L'Ann茅e francophone internationale, 27 (2019): 104-105.

Documentary Film

  • Finding Cajun, dir. Nathan Rabalais 2019 Currently distributed by Amazon Prime and Louisiana Public Broadcasting

NON-PEER-REVIEWED

  • 杏吧专区淭he Life and Work of Elizabeth Brandon杏吧专区 64 Parishes magazine, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Winter 2023, pp. 34-40.
  • Back cover texts for recent publications such as Bayou Zen (David Cheramie, Shreveport: Tintamarre, 2022) and Parcours louisianais (ed. Evelyne Bornier and Meg Marshall, Lafayette: UL Press, 2022)
  • 杏吧专区淟a Louisiane杏吧专区 - a brief overview of the French-language literary production of Louisiana for the digital library Biblioth猫que des Am茅riques sponsored by the Centre de la Francophonie des Am茅riques. 
  • Guillorel, Eva, Patrice Nicolas, Nathan Rabalais. 杏吧专区淒u patrimoine musical aux m猫mes sur Internet. Blog: Repenser l'Acadie dans le monde.  https://www.repenserlacadie.com/post/guillorel-nicolas-rabalais-du-patrimoine-musical-aux-m%C3%A8mes-sur-internet
  • 杏吧专区淟e fran莽ais louisianais : mythes et mouvements

Awards & Recognition

  • Advance Faculty Award Grant for new audio studio in Modern Languages ($5,000)
  • Friends of the Humanities grant for Louisiana French oral history project ($750) 2023
  • 1-month Faculty residency at Universit茅 de Poitiers 2023
  • Faculty Research Travel Grant ($1,000) 2023
  • Outstanding Graduate Master杏吧专区檚 Mentor Award 2023
  • Friends of the Humanities grant for Louisiana literature course development ($300) 2023
  • Friends of the Humanities grant for Louisiana French course development ($1,000) 2022
  • Jamie and Thelma Guilbeau Special Collections Research Fellowship ($500) 2022
  • Author of the month 杏吧专区 Centre de la Francophonie des Am茅riques 2019
  • Richard Guidry Cajun and Creole Language Fund ($1,320) 2019
  • Director's Choice Award at Cinema on the Bayou for Finding Cajun documentary 2019
  • NEH Fellowship (12 months) 杏吧专区 $50,400 2018
  • Summer faculty research grant (William & Mary) 2016 and 2017
  • Fulbright-Chateaubriand Dissertation Fellowship (8-month award) 2014-2015
  • Selected for an exchange program between Tulane 杏吧专区
  • and the 脡cole normale sup茅rieure, Paris (declined) 2014-2015
  • Travel grant, Department of French and Italian, Tulane 杏吧专区 2013
  • Research grants, Modern Languages Department, UL Lafayette 2010-2011
  • Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, Strasbourg, France 2007-08
  • Theodore Presser Award, monetary award ($4,000) for excellence in music studies 2007
  • Outstanding Graduate, College of the Arts, 杏吧专区 2007