French Literature

Overview

The specialties of the academic faculty of the Department of French Literature are concerned with modern and contemporary literature as well as French linguistics. We have an academic team that is capable and prepared to address a wide variety of student interests and demands. The master’s program is especially unique as students are required to take all courses in its curriculum. This requirement encourages an open mind for the French language and its literature, without becoming too narrow-minded in any one single area of study. Small class sizes mean rich, meaningful courses and thorough research advisement by experts in their field. Students are able to acquire the information and methodologies that are essential to becoming researchers.

All of our academic faculty hold PhDs and have studied abroad in France multiple times. We encourage our graduate students, and especially our doctoral students, to study abroad during their academic careers, and many of our students study abroad at one of Keio’s many partner schools in France or on a French government scholarship. Moreover, our French faculty ensure our students receive thorough training in French public speaking, presentation, and composition.

Faculty

Name/Position

Department/Specialty/Research Interest/Publication

  • ICHIKAWA, Takashi
    Professor

    French Literature
    Modern Literature and Philosophy

    My main research interests are French literature and thought of the 20th century. With reference to the texts of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and others on Georges Bataille, Maurice Blanchot, Jean-Paul Sartre, and others, I am examining the process by which existentialism is overcome by structuralism and post-structuralism. In recent years, focusing on Jean-Luc Nancy's theory of community in the 1980s, I have been considering the range of Nancy's reading of Bataille and the differences with Blanchot's theory of community.

    Publication
    • « Généalogie de l'affirmation de la pensée négative », in A. Milon(ed.), Leçon d'économie générale : l'expérience-limite chez Bataille-Blanchot-Klossowski, Presses Universitaires de Paris Nanterre, 2018
    • 「時間、エクリチュール、政治 - ジョルジュ・バタイユとジャン=リュック・ナンシー」,『多様体』no.2, 総特集ジャン＝リュック・ナンシー, 月曜社, 2020（ジャン=リュック・ナンシー, 市川崇, 柿並良佑ほか共編著)
    • 「ジャン=リュック・ナンシーの「不死性」」, 『思想』12月号 no. 1172, 追悼 ジャン=リュック・ナンシー, 岩波書店, 2021
    • ジャン＝リュック・ナンシー『否認された共同体』市川崇訳, 月曜社, 2023 (翻訳)
    • « La Foi et la démocratie », in Jean-Luc Nancy - Anastasis de la pensée, textes réunis et présentés par D. Dwivedi, J. Lèbre, M. Montévil et F. Warin, Hermann, 2023
  • KIDA, Kohei
    Professor

    French Literature
    French Linguistics

    My research interest lies in the semantic-pragmatic interface with special reference to the French language. I'm also interested in rhetoric and translation studies.

    Publication
    • Cognition et émotion dans le langage（共同編著、慶應義塾大学出版会、2006）
    • 『プチ・ロワイヤル和仏辞典 第3版』（執筆協力、旺文社、2010）
    • « L’argumentativité de la métaphore dans une sémantique argumentative », M. Bonhomme et al. (dir.), Métaphore et argumentation, Editions Academia, 2017
    • « Le paradoxe », L. Behe et al. (éds.), Cours de sémantique argumentative, Pedro e João editores, 2021
    • « L’interprétation argumentative en contexte », Corela, 22-1, 2024
  • TSUKIYAMA, Kazuya
    Professor

    French Literature
    French Literature of 19th Century

    « Surnaturalisme » in the art criticism of Baudelaire and Huysmans

    Publication
    • « De l’impertinence à la certitude morale : Baudelaire et Lautréamont » (Influences de Baudelaire, PUR, 2025, p.227-238.)
    • 「モーリス・ブランショの文学時評、ロートレアモンと小説の問題」（『レトリックとテロル ジロドゥ／サルトル／ブランショ／ポーラン』澤田直／ヴァンサン・ブランクール／郷原佳似／築山和也編、水声社、2024年、p.245-264.）
    • « L’imagination chez Baudelaire, mouvement et construction » (RHLF, 2019, n°2, p.333-345.)
    • « Le naturel dans la théâtralité baudelairienne » (Romantisme, n°179, 2018, p.141-150.)
    • « Le poème en prose chez Huysmans : contre la bourgeoisie » (Huysmans et les genres littéraires, PUR, 2010, p.173-182.)
  • MINEMURA, Suguru
    Professor

    French Literature
    Modern and Contemporary French Literature (Jean Genet）

    Researching the influence of the unique forms of punishment that emerged in 19th century France, including isolation cells and penal colonies, on modern authors, especially Jean Genet. Other themes include “faits divers”, return, confession, and description.

    Publication
    • 『フランス現代作家と絵画』（共編著、水声社、2009）
    • ジュネ『公然たる敵』（共訳、月曜社、2011）
    • Dictionnaire Jean Genet（共著、Honoré Champion、2014）
    • タハール・ベン・ジェルーン『嘘つきジュネ』（単訳、インスクリプト、2018）
    • 「所有と携行―ジュネのスーツケース」（『リミトロフ』第4号、2024）