South Asian cultures, religions, and literatures

At the Université Laval, I teach courses on South Asian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. An essential part of my scholarship draws from and contributes to the study of South Asian religions and cultures and their worldwide reception.

Building up on my comparative work on the Padāvalī of Mīrābāī (PhD dissertation), in recent years, I have explored again bhakti (devotional) traditions, with a focus on feminine figures in poetry and hagiography (mainly from the 16th century onwards). I have engaged in matricentric readings of such texts, focusing on motherhood and maternal figures. I have used similar approaches to read 20th C. Hindi literature. With the intent to bring such discussions into the francophone world, in February and March 2022, I have co-organized a symposium, with a focus on maternal figures in South Asian religious traditions (MATASUD), held at the Université Laval and the UQAM.

I am a founding member and member of the editorial board of the RIAS (Revue interdisciplinaire sur l’Asie du Sud), a new francophone, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal (OJS/PKP) on South Asia.

Recent publications on topics relating to South Asian studies:

  • « Elle Lui parlait comme s’Il était un enfant ». La voie de la dévotion maternelle dans les récits des vies des saints vishnouïtes. Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses (2022), OnlineFirst, https://doi.org/10.1177/00084298221107819
  • Mothers and Bhakti in Vallabhite Hagiography: Childbirth, Im/purity, and Divine Service. Journal of Vaishnava Studies 30/2 (2022), p. 183-197.
  • Lessons in Life on the Verge of Death. Spiritual Mothering in Ai Laṛkī by Hindi Author Krishna Sobti. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement 7/1 (2016), p. 82-99.
  • “Without Violence: Frédérick Leboyer’s Significant Encounters in and with India.” In: Cattoni, Nadia and Bornet, Philippe (eds). Significant Others: Transformative Encounters in India and Europe. Heidelberg: South Asian Studies. (In press/2023).
  • “Motherhood and Religion in Krishna Sobti’s Ai Laṛkī: A Reading through the Lenses of Maternal Theory.” In: Paul Kumar, Sukrita and Sethi, Rekha (eds). Krishna Sobti : A Counter Archive. New Delhi : Routledge, 2021, p. 157-164.
  • « Faire naître et faire croître. Les figures maternelles de Devakī et Yaśodā dans la poésie dévotionnelle hindoue de Sūrdās ». In: Pasche Guignard, Florence, Pedrucci, Giulia & Scapini, Marianna (eds). Maternità e Politeismi – Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms. Bologna: Pàtron, 2017, p. 383-396.
  • “Reading Hindu Devotional Poetry through Maternal Theory: Maternal Thinking and Maternal Figures in Sūrdās’ Bhakti Poetry”. In: Reimer, Vanessa (ed.). Angels on Earth: Mothering, Religion and Spirituality. Bradford : Demeter Press, 2016, p. 163-180.

Complete list of publications