91Ž«Ăœ

Brenton Hobart

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Brenton Hobart

Associate Professor

  • Department: 91Ž«Ăœ Literature and English
  • Complementary Department(s): French Studies and Modern Languages

Professor Hobart began teaching at The American University of Paris in 2008 while working on doctoral degrees at both Harvard University and the UniversitĂ© de Paris-Sorbonne. At AUP, he teaches within the departments of 91Ž«Ăœ Literature and French Studies, and in the English Writing Program. Recent courses include The Bible, Shakespeare in Context, The Fantastic Nature of Things, and The World, the Text and the Critic I. He has also taught courses on English and American literature, French and francophone language and literature, translation, cultural studies, and American history and civilization at institutions including the UniversitĂ© de Paris Nanterre, the UniversitĂ© d’OrlĂ©ans, the UniversitĂ© de Cergy-Pontoise, the Institut d’Études Politiques (Lille), the Institut catholique de Paris and Harvard University.

His first book,ÌęLa Peste Ă  la Renaissance, published by Classiques Garnier in 2020(), was awarded the 2021ÌęPrix Monseigneur MarcelÌęby the Academie Française for best book in the field of History of Philosophy(). It studies the literary representations of epidemics known as plague in 16th-century France, exploring how French authors perpetuate the idea of the disease through their translations of classical, biblical and medieval texts, while intertwining imitation, personal experience and invention in their own writings. His publications include studies on poetry and prose from Classical Antiquity in 15th- and 16th-century translation, the Bible, early Christian writings and the writers of the Reformation, medieval medical writings, as well as a variety of Renaissance genres in works by Boccaccio (novella), ClĂ©ment Marot (poetry), François Rabelais (novel), Nostradamus (prophecy), Pierre Boaistuau (compilation), Ambroise ParĂ© (medical treatise), Étienne de La BoĂ©tie (political discourse), Michel de Montaigne (essay and travel literature) and Agrippa d’AubignĂ© (epic poetry). He is currently working on a second monograph covering the works of Rabelais.



Education/Degrees

  • Doctorat (2014), LittĂ©rature et civilisation françaises, UniversitĂ© Paris IV-Sorbonne
  • PhD (2012), Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
  • Ancien Pensionnaire (2008), École Normale SupĂ©rieure-Ulm
  • AM (2007), Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University
  • DEA (2004), LittĂ©rature et civilisation françaises, UniversitĂ© Paris IV-Sorbonne
  • MaĂźtrise (2003), Lettres modernes, UniversitĂ© Paris IV-Sorbonne
  • Licence (2002), Lettres modernes, UniversitĂ© Paris IV-Sorbonne
  • BA (2000), English Literature, Arizona State University
  • BA (2000), French Literature, Arizona State University

Publications

Books
  • "Y a il icy dangier de peste ?" La Peste au temps de Rabelais, Paris, Classiques Garnier, "Les Mondes de Rabelais", forthcoming.
  • La Peste Ă  la Renaissance. L'imaginaire d'un flĂ©au dans la littĂ©rature au XVIe siĂšcle, Paris, Classiques Garnier, "GĂ©ographies du Monde", 2020.
Articles and Book Chapters
  • “'Oncques n’y prindrent mal': prophylaxis and the plague scenes in Rabelais’ÌęGargantuaÌęČčČÔ»ćÌęPantagruelÌę– from action to reception” inÌęArts et savoirs, 18|22,ÌęL’art de dĂ©jouer le mal. Savoirs et discours prophylactiques (XVIe-XXe siĂšcle), Ă©d. JĂ©rĂŽme Laubner and Dominique Brancher, 2022:Ìę.
  • “Montaigne’s Plague: An Event or a Literary Device?” Montaigne Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum. XXXII, no. 1-2: Montaigne, La Maladie Et La MĂ©decine (p. 119-136), Ed. Philippe Desan, Mar. 2020.Ìę
  • “La Peste terrestre anthropomorphe Ă  la Renaissance. L’exemple du Pantagruel de Rabelais”, in MĂ©langes en l’honneur de Frank Lestringant (p. 427-436) Ă©tudes rĂ©unies et Ă©ditĂ©es par VĂ©ronique Ferrer, Olivier Millet et Alexandre TarrĂȘte, Geneva, Droz, 2019.
  • “La ‘franchise’, ou le sens d’ĂȘtre français dans le discoursÌęDe la servitude volontaire”, inÌęLe VergerÌęVII surÌęDe la servitude volontaireÌęd'Etienne de La BoĂ©tie, 2015,Ìę.
  • Ìę“Authors Plagued: The Black Death in Works of Sixteenth-Century Writers Struck First Hand, Marot, Montaigne, D'AubignĂ©, ParĂ©â€, inÌęPortrayals of Medicine, Physicians, Patients, and Illnesses in French Literature from the Middle Ages to the PresentÌę(p. 107-155), Ed. Lison Baselis-Bitoun and Ji-hyun Philippa Kim, Lewiston (New York), The Edwin Mellen Press, 2011.
Book Reviews
  • Judy Kem,ÌęPathologies of Love: Medicine and the Woman Question in Early Modern France, Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 2019, inÌęThe Sixteenth Century Journal, Kirksville (MO), Truman State U.ÌęP., 2022.
  • Julien GƓury,ÌęLa Muse du consistoire. Une histoire des pasteurs poĂštes des origines de la RĂ©forme jusqu’à la rĂ©vocation de l’édit de Nantes.ÌęGenĂšve, Droz, «ÌęCahiers d’Humanisme et RenaissanceÌę», n°Ìę133, 2016, inÌęThe Sixteenth Century Journal, Kirksville (MO), Truman State U. P., 2021.
  • Françoise Lavocat (ed.),ÌęPestes, Incendies, Naufrages. Écritures du dĂ©sastre au dix-septiĂšme siĂšcle, Turnhout (Belgique), Brepols, 2011: RevueÌęDix-septiĂšme siĂšcle, 2015/2 (n° 267), Presses Universitaires de France (ISBN : 978-2130628842),Ìę.
Media
  • «ÌęLe genre du rĂ©cit de peste dans les textes du XVIe siĂšcle. Une Ă©pidĂ©mie de lieux communsÌę?Ìę»,ÌęCanalÌꎥłŠČč»ćĂ©łŸŸ±±đČőÌę– À Tout Prix, 29 octobre 2021Ìę:Ìę
  • «ÌęHistorical Plagues and the Coronavirus OutbreakÌę»,ÌęYoutubeÌę–ÌęAUPÌęvideosÌę: Learning Laboratory Ep. 14, 30 juillet 2020 :Ìę
Thesis
  • łąâ€™IłŸČčČ”Ÿ±ČÔČčŸ±°ù±đÌęde la peste dans la littĂ©rature française de la Renaissance, Paris-Sorbonne, 2014 (Num. national de thĂšse: 2014PA040022)Ìę/ Harvard, 2012 (Proquest, ISBN: 978-1267714732).
Encyclopaedia Entries
  • ÌęPierre Boaistuau (2013) and Ambroise ParĂ© (2014), inÌęLiterary Encyclopedia,Ìę.
Ìę

Conferences & Lectures

  • “A Walk Through the Womb: François Rabelais’ Autopsying the Matrix in Guy de Chauliac’sÌęChirurgia magna” Gender and Medieval Studies Conference”, Paris, December 6-8, 2022.
  • “Écrire l’Histoire de la Peste Ă  La Renaissance : Entre Autopsie et Plagiat (Marot, Rabelais, Nostradamus, Montaigne)”, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Paris, November 18, 2021, 17:00-19:00
  • “‘Oncques n’y prindrent mal’: les semeurs de la peste de Rabelais”, “JournĂ©e d’études – L’art de dĂ©jouer le mal: penser ‘la partie prophylactice et conservatrice de santĂ©â€™â€, Basel, Switzerland, October 18-19, 2019.
  • “Les traitĂ©s de la peste au dĂ©but de la premiĂšre Renaissance en France: Le Remede tresutile contre fievre pestilencieuse de Joannes Jacobi; Le Regime contre epidimie et pestilence de Thomas Le Forestier”. Invited Lecture (Olivier Millet), Sorbonne UniversitĂ©, Paris, March 28 2018.
  • “To Finish with the Plague: 1,000 pages on the French Renaissance Plague in 2,700 Words”, Sixteenth Century Society Conference, Milwaukee, WI, October 26-28, 2017.
  • “Translating Paradigms, Building the Plague: From Boccaccio’s Enfiature to Boccace’s Bosses,” Paradigm Shifts During the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance, Arizona Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 17th Annual Colloquium, Tempe, AZ, February 9-11, 2017.
  • “Reminiscences of Thucydides’ and Boccaccio’s Plagues in Rabelais’ Pantagruel”, Sixteenth Century Society Conference, Bruges, August 18-20, 2016.
  • “Michel de Nostredame, Nostradamus: Reader, Practitioner, Prophet and Writer of Plagues, and of Wars”, The Renaissance Society of America, Annual Conference, Boston, MA, March 31-April 2, 2016
  • “‘Une maladie monstrueuse’: Monstrous Attributes of Ambroise Paré’s Plague and Plague Victim”, The Renaissance Society of America, Annual Conference, Berlin, Mar. 26–28, 2015.
  • “The 'Malady' of ClĂ©ment Marot: From the End of an Adolescence to the Start of the Renaissance”, French Autopathography, Queen's University Belfast, Nov. 21-22, 2014.
  • “Sixteenth-Century Violence in the Garden of Eden: the Discourse of Disease in Du Bartas’ Seconde semaine”, Sixteenth Century Society Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, Oct. 16-19, 2014.
  • "Montaigne’s Plague: An Event and a Literary Device", South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Conference, Durham North Carolina, November 9-11, 2012.
  • "Sir Philip Sidney: The Reflections of a Foreigner in Paris and the Influence of Paris in Arcadia", L'Étranger dans la Ville: International Colloquium organized by 'IdentitĂ©s et Cultures des Pays Anglophones', UniversitĂ© de Cergy-Pontoise, March 29-31, 2012.
  • "The Plague, the Devil and Ambroise ParĂ©", The Renaissance Society of America, Annual Conference, Washington D.C., March 22-24, 2012.
  • "A Rotten Body: Corporal Putrefaction in Ambroise Paré’s TraictĂ© de la Peste", Sixteenth Century Society & Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, October 27-30, 2011.
  • "The Performation of the Plague in Literature from Antiquity to the Renaissance: from Claude de Seyssel’s Thucydides to Nostradamus to Pierre Boaistuau", Performance and Theatricality in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 17th Annual Colloquium, Tempe, Arizona, February 10-12, 2011.
  • "Re-imagining the Plague in Early Modern Europe: ClĂ©ment Marot and Agrippa d’AubignĂ©". Invited Lecture, American University of Paris, April 23, 2009.
  • "Habits et habitudes dans le thĂ©Ăątre du nouveau monde de la Renaissance". Invited Lecture (Frank Lestringant), UniversitĂ© Paris IV–Sorbonne, April 2008.
  • "La Naissance de la Violence: l’épopĂ©e biblique – Guillaume Salluste du Bartas, et John Milton". Invited Lecture (Frank Lestringant), UniversitĂ© Paris IV–Sorbonne, May 2007.

Affiliations

  • Renaissance Society of America
  • Sixteenth Century Society & Conference
  • Centre de Recherche sur la LittĂ©rature des Voyages
  • Association V.L. Saulnier
  • Amis du Louvre

Research Areas

  • French, Italian, Spanish and English Renaissance literature
  • Medical humanities
  • Plagues and dis-eases
  • Mythical realities: the plague victim, the witch, kings and tyrants, race, beasts of the Old and New Worlds
  • Travel literature
  • The Bible as literature
  • Shakespeare
  • The Vietnam War

Awards, Fellowships and Grants

Prix d’histoire et de sociologie de l’AcadĂ©mie française,ÌęMonseigneur Marcel (2021) forÌęLa Peste Ă  la Renaissance