ABOUT MY WORK
Having completed two master’s degrees (Francophone literature and Literary Studies), I am currently a PhD candidate in Transnational and Comparative Literatures at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada). For my research project “A Decolonial Poetics of Language: Indigenous Women’s Poetry at the Crossroads of Languages / Une poétique du langage décoloniale: La poésie autochtone féminine à la croisée des langues,” I examine Indigenous women’s poetry and its decolonizing possibilities. The project advances new insights in Indigenous Studies as it explores the connection between poetry, resistance, resurgence, and society, focusing on how Indigenous women writers employ Indigenous languages and reinvent French and English. It examines the use of languages – Indigenous, colonial, poetic – to trace how community is build in/through these texts. More importantly, it explores the potential of Indigenous poetry in society and within a decolonial framework.
Primarily, my research focuses on Indigenous literatures written in French and English, with a focus on poetry. I am particularly interested in trans-Indigenous and translingual aspects of Indigenous poems, videopoems, novels, and media. Moreover, I explore questions of gender inequality within Indigenous literatures and Francophone literatures. In addition to Indigenous Literary Studies, my research interests include Francophone literature and la Francophonie, gender studies, and postcolonial/decolonial studies.
Language has always fascinated me and working/freelancing as a translator and editor allows me to explore yet another side of language and culture. If you require my translation or editing services (Dutch, French, and English), please reach out through the contact form. While not the main focus, translation is also part of my research both as research topic and as practice. Recently, I have taken up translating Indigenous poetry.
ABOUT ME
I was born and raised in the Netherlands. In 2014, I lived and studied in Tours, France for six months and in 2016 in Trois-Rivières, Canada. Since 2019, I live and work on Treaty 6 territory and in Region 4 Métis Nation (Edmonton) to pursue my PhD dream. My native language is Dutch, and I am also fluent in English and French. I am an avid reader and enjoy changing up the desk life with volleyball, the occasional swim, and bike rides (summer) or walks (winter). I am an amateur photographer and love exploring new places – whether a new café around the corner or faraway, cold countries. It’s my dream one day to visit Greenland.
MALOU BROUWER 