Dr. Darci Gardner, Associate Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) Fund Recipient: Spring 2023
Project: "Archival Research on the Influence of American Women Regionalist Writers in France"
Dr. Gardner received a Spring 2023 Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) grant to conduct archival research in Paris, France. Gardner used the sources that she discovered at the National Archives, National Libraries and Marguerite Durand Library to write a conference paper that she presented at the 48th Annual Nineteenth-Century French Studies Conference held at Johns Hopkins University in November 2023.
Previously, Gardner had published several articles on Marie Krysinska, a Polish-French symbolist poet, novelist and musician. Her latest research focuses on the influence of American women regionalist writers on Krysinska. Regarding the importance of this work, Gardner explained, "Because women authors were sometimes forgotten posthumously, and because their work was not always widely disseminated or reproduced during their lives, it is important to visit archives to find women's writings and to make them available to readers today."
As a result of her research, Gardner discovered a long-lost manuscript by Krysinska. "A cabaret program that I had photographed back in 2019 alluded to a play titled 'Anniversaire,' but scholars at that time were not able to track it down. Now, four years later, I found the text in a box of cabaret manuscripts that nineteenth-century authors submitted to French censors for review. Because of this discovery, my colleagues will be able to include the play Anniversaire in a forthcoming edition of Marie Krysinska's Complete Works (Éditions Honoré Champion). The text differs drastically from Krysinska's other writings and will give French readers a better idea of how women viewed marriage at the turn of the century," wrote Gardner.
In addition to contributing to her research, Gardner's archival research enabled her to update her course on Women Writers of French Expression (FRE 2055), which is offered every third semester by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Gardner shared, "Because of this grant, Appalachian State students will have access to works of literature that were popular in the 1890s and 1910s and forgotten in the 1920s and 1930s simply because professors at that time deemed women's writing unworthy of study."
Gardner sifted through files at the National Archives to discover the long-lost manuscript by Krysinska. Photo submitted.
###
About the SAFE Fund
Initially endowed by Hughlene and Bill Frank, the College of Arts and Sciences Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) Fund provides resources that can be used to support undergraduate, graduate and faculty experiences. The SAFE Fund provides funding for college priorities and opportunities that arise throughout the year. These unrestricted funds support student and faculty travel, publication support for faculty and student research opportunities. Learn more at: https://cas.appstate.edu/students/student-and-faculty-excellence-safe-fund.
About the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers courses that enhance students’ understanding of other cultures and languages as well as their own, making them prepared for lifelong learning in a multicultural world. Learn more at https://dllc.appstate.edu.
Written by Lauren Gibbs
January 25, 2024
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Darci Gardner, associate professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Dr. Darci Gardner, associate professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures