Alexander Hertich

Teaching

Dr. Hertich teaches a variety of courses at Bradley University, from beginning French to advanced literature and civilization courses. In addition to language and survey courses, he has offered classes on French cinema, autobiography, francophone literature, and French literature during the Mitterrand years. Dr. Hertich is the department chairperson and also the founder and resident director of the Bradley University January interim program in Paris.

Scholarship

Dr. Hertich is a translator and scholar of 20^th- and 21^st-century French literature. His translation of René Belletto’s novel Dying was a finalist for the French-American Foundation Annual Translation Prize. In addition to translation, he has published and presented in French and English on Patrick Modiano, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Frédéric Beigbeder, Marie NDiaye, and Raymond Queneau as well as other modern French writers.

Translations

• The Firsts: A History of French Superheroes. Translation of Le Premiers: Une histoire des super-héros français by Xabi Molia (2017). Dallas / Dublin: Dalkey Archive Press, 2023.
• The End of the World Might Not Have Taken Place.Translation of La Fin du monde n'aurait pas eu lieu, a novel by Patrik Ourednik (2017). McLean (IL) / Dublin: Dalkey Archive Press, 2019.
• "Philosophy and Contemporary Reality: Beyond the Event." Translation of "La Philosophie et l'actualité: au-delà de l'événement," an article by Étienne Balibar (2003). Revisioning French Culture. Andrew Sobanet, ed. Liverpool University Press, 2019. 315-29.
• "The Wheel." Translation of "La Roue," a short story by Christian Gailly (2012). Best European Fiction 2016. Victoria: Dalkey Archive Press, 2015. 74-81.
• "An Unexpected Return." Translation of "Un Retour inattendu," a short story by Nicolas Bouyssi (2013). Best European Fiction 2015, Champaign: Dalkey Archive Press, 2014. 151-7.
• A Walk Through the Land of Old Age. A translation of Promenade au pays de la vieillesse, A documentary film co-written by Simone de Beauvoir. Political Writings (The Beauvoir Series), Margaret A. Simons and Marybeth Timmermann, eds. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2012. 339-63.
• Dying. A translation of René Belletto's novelMourir(2002). Champaign: Dalkey Archive Press. 2010.

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

• “A New Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century Author: Frédéric Beigbeder, l’enfant du siècle.” Dalhousie French Studies. Vol. 108 (Spring 2017), 3-14.
• “Any day is a whole story, even when you believe nothing’s happened” : Jacques Réda and the Everyday.”Semiotics and Hermeneutics of the Everyday, Lia Yoka and Grigoris Paschalidis, eds. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015. 290-301.
• "Jean-Philippe Toussaint et Alain Robbe-Grillet sur le double circuit." Existe-t-il un style minuit?Karine Germoni, Annick Jauer and Michel Bertrand, eds. Aix-en-Provence: Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2014. 125-34.
• "Erratum… Errata… Erasum…: The Selection of Sources for Raymond Queneau'sLe Chiendent." FLS French Literature Series, Vol. XXXVII (2010), 205-14.
• “Philosophes et / ou voyous? The Case of Queneau and Descartes.” Dalhousie French Studies. Vol. 79 (Summer 2007), 71-82.
• “Questions de solitude et de périphérie dans les romans de Jean-Philippe Toussaint et de Patrick Modiano.” Pour une cartographie du “roman urbain” du XIXème au XXIème siècles. Christina Horvath and Helle Waahlberg, eds. Toronto: Paratexte, 2007. 197-204.
• “Identity and Place in Marie NDiaye’s En Famille. ”The French Review. Vol. 78 no. 4 (March 2005), 718-28.

Service

Dr. Hertich is chairperson of the World Languages and Cultures department. He has served on a number of college and university committees including Tenure and Promotion, Faculty Grievance, Liberal Arts and Sciences Sabbatical, and University Strategic Planning.