20
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 1ST FEBRUARY, 2015
OUR PEOPLE
You undertook your programme for the PhD Literatures in
English as a candidate with the University of Sorbonne in
Paris and at The UWI St Augustine. It was a Literatures in
English programme, how did the French connection come
about? Were you the first to do a fully joint PhD fromUWI?
MM:
I am used to connections between languages and
cultures as I was born in France and I grew up in
Martinique in an environment shared between two
languages and two cultures. On the one hand, I was
fed on classical French literature from Molière to
Hugo, while on the other, I was taught Césaire’s Cahier
d’un Retour au pays natal and Jacques Roumain’s
Gouverneurs de la Rosée, and my mother often
quoted Maryse Condé’s Moi Tituba sorcière Noire de
Salem among her favourite books.
I am therefore a transcultural subject by essence
as I am used to teetering between two cultures
and navigating between the fixity of French as
the national language and the fluidity of Creole
as the regional language, the mother tongue.
Far from experiencing this as a form of “linguistic
schizophrenia” as Trinidadian poet M. NourbeSe Philip
puts it, I have experienced it as a linguistic continuum
and have always enjoyed the complexities of my
Euro-Caribbean identity. Whether it is the folk tale,
the sounds of drums, the blowing of conch shells or
the vibrant street exchanges in Creole, my personal
experience with language is embedded in oral
culture and discourse, and this has strongly inspired
my research project on Diasporic Caribbean women
writers.
Choosing a joint PhD programme was natural to me
because I was already quite familiar with joint degrees,
having completed my undergraduate studies (BA
Honours English with Caribbean Studies) at both
London Metropolitan University and Université des
Antilles Guyane in Martinique. For my postgraduate
studies, I enrolled at Paris 3 Université de la Sorbonne
Nouvelle where I graduated with an MPhil in
Literatures in English. My MPhil dissertation, which
was on Caribbean British women writers (Zadie Smith
and Andrea Levy), could not have been as significant
without the precious pieces of advice from Dr Rita
Christian from London Metropolitan University, a
specialist in Caribbean studies. Hence I felt that the
double supervision of my Sorbonne supervisor and
Dr Christian was so enriching that I decided to seek
an official joint supervision for my doctoral project.
I was not the first student to seek international co-
supervision at the Sorbonne as this is more and more
frequent. However, I do recall a number of scholars
from European universities questioning my choice
then to pursue a joint degree with The UWI rather
than with an American university. I had to go through
a number of hurdles before enrolling at The UWI
because the two systems are so different. Surprisingly
enough, when I eventually got to come to Trinidad,
I was often asked the same question: ‘Why did you
choose us for a joint degree? Why The UWI?’
I felt that being embedded in the European university
system and being so familiar with European theorists,
I needed more grounding and expertise in terms
of African and Caribbean theories and literatures.
I was told that the St. Augustine campus was the
best option when it came to Literatures in English.
In fact, my co-supervised studentship in the course
of my second doctoral year has truly represented
added-value to my research project. I believe that this
international agreement between UWI and Paris 3
Howwould you describe the time you spent
at the University of Sorbonne?
MM:
The time spent at the Sorbonne Nouvelle has been
particularly stimulating as my supervisor, Professor
Dvorak, paved the way for my development as an
academic researcher. She insisted on the necessity
to communicate at international conferences and
publish articles in peer-reviewed international
academic journals. My time at the Sorbonne was made
of a multitude of events, seminars and conferences,
featuring prominent guest writers such as Derek
Walcott and Olive Senior. The French academic system
requires doctoral candidates to communicate on
their work and move around France, hence I have
attended and delivered papers at many conferences in
Montpellier, Caen and Dijon. Through the Sorbonne,
I had the opportunity to attend a doctoral seminar
at Montréal University and was also awarded two
short-term fellowships, from New York University and
Brown University. All of these, beside my time at the
Sorbonne library and at the Bibliothèque Nationale
de France (French National Library), have contributed
to feeding my project and to widening my prospects.
The numerous scholars I have met in the mentioned
universities, especially in the field of Africana studies
and Caribbean literary and cultural studies have
participated in some way or another to the growth of
my doctoral dissertation.
Howwould you describe the time you spent at The UWI?
MM:
I spent approximately one semester per academic
year at the UWI, hence three semesters in total at the
St Augustine campus. When I arrived at The UWI, I
felt that I came to a better understanding of what it
meant to be a Caribbean. Staying in the Milner Hall of
residence with postgraduate students coming from all
over the Caribbean has been an amazing multicultural
experience to me and I have made friends who will
always be part of my life.
My first anxiety appeared when I realised that a
joint degree did not only mean having to write the
doctoral dissertation in English, but also meant double
academic requirements. I had to submit coursework
and deliver graduate seminars for UWI examination
purposes. While at the Sorbonne Nouvelle, I was
encouraged to deliver papers at international
conferences and submit articles for publication in
peer-reviewed scholarly journals. At UWI, I attended
graduate courses, submitted graduate coursework and
delivered graduate seminars to show the evolution of
my work. Beyond all the stress and hard work, these
have truly enriched my research experience. The UWI’s
requirements allowed me to strongly advance my
research because I was getting regular assessment
throughout.
My UWI supervisor Professor Barbara Lalla was an
invaluable resource, as she always made herself
available during each period I spent on the St.
Augustine campus, and she would always check
on me whenever I got a bit silent or confused. The
UWI has played a key part in my completing my
PhD degree, first because I was awarded a Graduate
Scholarship which covered my tuition fees, then
because I was blessed to have the best supervisor ever
in the persona of Professor Lalla, as well as so many
UWI scholars who were so stimulating and so willing
to share their insights and experience. Last but not
least, the UWI offered me the regional input and the
Myriam Moise
graduated with a PhD
(Literatures in English) at the October
2014 graduation ceremony at The UWI.
Her programmewas a joint one between
The UWI and the University of Sorbonne
in Paris, and presented many unique
challenges for her. In an email interview
with
UWITODAY
editor,
VaneisaBaksh
,
Myriam describes the experience.
Connecting Language
and
Culture
Sorbonne Nouvelle has allowed my doctoral work to
embrace a much larger dimension. I could not hope
for better co-supervision as I have benefitted from
Professors Dvorak and Lalla’s expertise and experience
in their respective fields and they have both
encouraged me to open my perspectives in terms of
literary theory and discourse theory.
Myriam Moise at UWI graduation ceremony in October 2014
