Biography

Dr. Matar is a Clinical Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies. She obtained her Ph.D. in Modern French Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a dissertation on the literary representations of the Lebanese civil war. Before coming to the United States, she studied at Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon where she completed her master’s degree in French literature.

Prior to joining The Catholic University of America, Dr. Matar taught at the University of Maryland, the George Washington University, and the Alliance française in DC. In 2011, she served as Coordinator and supervisor of the Teaching Assistants in the French department at the University of Maryland and was the Course Chair for the Beginner and Intermediate French Courses.

Dr. Matar’s research focuses on the representations of war and identities in conflict in the Francophone literature of the Middle East, with a special emphasis on Lebanon and on the themes of memory and identity.

At Catholic University, Dr. Matar teaches a wide variety of courses of French language, literature and culture at all levels for the program in French and Francophone Studies and the certificate program in European Studies. Her course on the Francophone literature of the Middle East is also offered through the Islamic World Studies program. Dr. Matar served as the French Academic Student advisor and is currently the advisor of the French and Francophone club.

Selected Publications

Matar, Marilyn. “Les Tragiques d’Agrippa d’Aubigné et Incendies de Wajdi Mouawad”. Entre-textes: Dialogues littéraires et culturels. Eds. Oana Panaïté and Vera A. Klekovkina. New York: Routledge, 2017. 73-95. 

“Spectres d’une guerre au(x) récit(s) perdu(s): Littoral (1999), Visage retrouvé (2002) et Incendies (2003) de Wajdi Mouawad”. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies: SITES 18.5 (2014): 470-478.

“À la croisée des chemins, il peut y avoir l’autre: lecture croisée de Littoral de Wajdi Mouawad, Palestine de Hubert Haddad et Les Versets du pardon de Myriam Antaki”. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies: SITES 17.5 (2013): 512-520.