Brandon University researcher Dr. Dominique Hétu is a co-investigator on a nationally funded research initiative examining how Francophone literature represents care, vulnerability, and human dignity, and how these narratives create space for historically marginalized voices.
Dr. Hétu, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Francophone Studies and Languages, is part of the research team for Donner voix aux caregivers : sollicitude, soin et subalternité dans les littératures francophones de 1945 à aujourd’hui (Giving Voice to Caregivers: Care, Solicitude, and Subalternity in Francophone Literatures from 1945 to the Present). The five-year project is supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grant and is led by Dr. Andrea Oberhuber (Université de Montréal). The research team also includes Dr. Léonore Brassard (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) and Dr. Maïté Snauwaert (University of Alberta).
The project examines how Francophone literary works published since 1945 represent and reimagine care as a social, ethical, and political practice. Through narratives of caregiving, dependency, and subalternity, the research explores how literature creates space for historically marginalized voices to reclaim their experiences and challenge dominant understandings of care, social value, and human dignity.
Dr. Hétu’s contribution builds on her research in contemporary Francophone literature, feminist ethics of care, and narratives of ordinary vulnerability. As part of the project, she will lead research activities based in Brandon, strengthening research capacity in a Francophone minority context while contributing to a national scholarly collaboration.
“What excites me most is the opportunity to develop research activities here in Brandon while contributing to a broader collaborative project that addresses these important questions,” said Dr. Hétu. “Supporting research activity in a Francophone minority context is an important part of the project’s design, this isn’t work that happens only in the larger urban centres.”
The project highlights Brandon University’s growing contribution to collaborative humanities research and reflects the University’s commitment to advancing research with national and international impact.
“Dr. Hétu’s work is a great example of the calibre of scholarship happening in the Faculty of Arts, including in French” said Dr. Gregory Kennedy, Dean of Arts. “With national and international impact, this project will also create opportunities for students, researchers, and partners right here in Brandon. This achievement is a wonderful example of Dr. Hétu’s particular achievements in the domain of contemporary literature, practices of care, and minority language communities.”
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