Can you tell us a little about your background?
I grew up and did all my studies in France. I was lucky to be in a Decroly school from 3 to 15 years old and I think it has been by far my best preparation to research, then I went to highschool and preparatory highschool in Paris, which is a quite classic path for humanities studies. After that I studied Middle Age French lexicology for my master, but also French as Foreign Language (M1) and Law, Economy and Management (M1) before starting a PhD in Comparative Literature. My path may not seem very linear, but I am very happy about all the different dimensions of humanities that it allowed me to explore, and I am still curious about many more fields, which I hope to be able to explore a bit further one day.
What attracted you to join the JEUX project?
For my PhD, I wrote a thesis on Women and Game/Gambling, which was a study and an attempt at classifying motifs from literature. I was not specifically attracted to games before, but this thesis gave me an opportunity to discover a new field, and I really enjoyed the interdisciplinarity dimensions of it. After this PhD, I was very happy to find the JEUX Project, which is another way of exploring games and has also the gender dimension, the French dimension and so much more. The JEUX Project gives me an opportunity to continue with both literature and games and to explore new dimensions and new disciplines and cross-disciplinarity which is extremely interesting.
With the pilot games played so far, what has surprised you the most?
I really enjoyed the pilots even if I didn’t play. I was surprised at the quality of the stories that were told, not that I was doubting the capacities of our players but I think I would never have imagined that they took the game so seriously that they would come up with such amazing and elaborate stories. I doubt that I would have been able to produce something of that level myself, or dare to speak so much during the gameplay, so I am really impressed by that and also thankful to the players who have trusted us during all the games and gave us such beautiful moments.
What has been so far your favourite game and why?
Ah, that’s a very difficult question. I think I like most of the games, it is difficult to pick just one because they are all so different. I liked the magical moment that was created by the game of the dreams, but I also really enjoyed the game of the Metamorphoses, and the game of the Messenger with the letters (I love letters), I also really enjoyed the Game of the Novel, especially to see what was actually different and what were the choices made or impulse that change something both in the story telling and in the group dynamics. I really loved to hear the laughters of the players during the play and it happened in all the games I think.
What are your future aspirations?
I really enjoy research and teaching, so I would like to continue, but with research it is difficult to know what the future has in store for us, we can go to the other side of the planet or just end up with no job at all, so, for the moment, I am enjoying doing what I am doing and quite curious about what is coming next but also quite open to all the different possibilities.