Mélanie Heydari

Mélanie Heydari received her PhD in postcolonial literature from the Sorbonne, Paris, in 2012. She has lectured on her researches at international conferences and has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals, including “‘A magical translation’: Recycling in Vikram Seth’s An Equal Music” (in Cambridge Scholars Publishing) and “Reviving the ‘Great Tradition’ of the British Novel: Realism and Transparency in Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy” (in Commonwealth Essays and Studies). Her study of Vikram Seth’s protean work has led her to explore a wide range of theoretical issues, from Englishness and the “Great Tradition” to the question of pastiche, from the Victorian novel to postcolonial studies, from biography as a genre to the intricacies of personal and historical memory. Her work throws into relief the profound ideological, political and aesthetic diversity of postcolonial literature, stressing the need for a form of postcolonial criticism that takes into account the notions of classicism, tradition and resistance to innovation.     Heydari acquired extensive experience in the classroom during her time in the English department of the Sorbonne and has since taught in leading institutions of higher education, on both sides of the Atlantic. She has dealt with a dramatically diverse student population in terms of national origin, interests and goals and currently teaches French language and literature to United Nations diplomats and administrators from all over the world.