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Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

O'Dowd Hall, Room 372
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-2060
Fax: (248) 370-3170

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

O'Dowd Hall, Room 372
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-2060
Fax: (248) 370-3170

Rebecca Josephy

Headshot of Rebecca Josephy

Rebecca Josephy
Associate Professor of French

352 O'Dowd Hall
(248) 370-2081
[email protected]

DEGREE: Ph.D. in French Language and Literature, Western University, Canada

RESEARCH INTERESTS: 20th Century French and Comparative Literature, Detective Fiction, Bible and Literature, Jewish Studies, Andrée Maillet.

Dr. Josephy joined Oakland University in 2017 after studying at Western University and l’Université Paris-Nanterre. Her principal field of research is in 20th century Comparative Literature with a special emphasis on the Hebrew Bible and Jewish thought and philosophy in French literature and popular culture. Her current work focuses specifically on the intersection between religion and crime fiction and examines the role that the biblical episode of "Belshazzar's Feast" plays in the mystery and detective fiction genre. She’s also currently working on an edited book volume with McFarland Press titled Crime and Illusion in Mystery and Detective Fiction: Essays on Magic and Magicians.

Dr. Josephy heads the faculty-led study abroad to the French Riviera as part of the FRH 1600/1610 suite of courses and is the moderator for the OU chapter of the Pi Delta Phi French Honors Society.

SELECTED LIST OF PUBLICATIONS:

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Some Benefits to Going Narrow Instead of Broad. Rethinking Cultural Instruction in the French Language Classroom: Andrée Maillet as a Case Study.” Culture & Content in French: Frameworks for Innovative Curricula, ed. Aurélie Aksoy-Chevant and Kathryne Adair Corbin. Lever Press, March 2022. Invited and Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Mané, Thécel, Pharès: quand un Dieu laconique prend la plume.” Special volume: Réinventer la brachylogie entre dialectique et rhétorique, Patrick Voisin. Paris, Classiques Garnier, January 2020, p. 353-374. Invited and Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Quand le sang parle en code: origines cachées et bibliques de L’Île aux trente cercueils de Maurice Leblanc.” L’Aiguille preuve (L’Association des amis d’Arsène Lupin AAAL), 20, June 2018, p. 12-22. (Republication). Invited.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Marguerite Duras, le judaïsme et l’interdit du N/nom dans Le camion et La pluie d’été.Dalhousie French Studies, volume 120, 2022, p. 119-131. Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “ Mené, Mené, Thecel, Upharsin: textes, images et énigmes chez Rembrandt et Butor.” Dalhousie French Studies, volume 119, p. 141-156, December 2021.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “A Study in Daniel: Tracing the Biblical Origins of Sherlock Holmes.” Clues, v 38, n.1, Spring 2020, p. 81-91. Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Quand le sang parle en code: origines cachées et bibliques de L'Île aux trente cercueils de Maurice Leblanc.” @nalyses, 12, n.1, 2017, p. 256-279. Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. Le détective biblique: Daniel et le débat sur une préhistoire du roman policier.” Voix plurielles, 13, n. 2, 2016, p. 177-184. Refereed. 

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Qu’y a t-il dans un nom ? (La peur du nom Abraham dans Le Camion de Marguerite Duras).” Les mots en force dans le discours. Le pouvoir des mots et la peur qu’ils suscitent. Mots en force, tome. 2, Brest, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 2014, p. 247-262. Refereed.

  • Josephy, Rebecca. “Une traversée en théorie intertextuelle: La ‘seconde main’ dans ‘Les doigts extravagants’ d’Andrée Maillet.” @nalyses, vol. 6, n. 3, 2011, p. 167-191. Refereed