During the academic year, the door of Marc Smeets' office on the fifth floor of the Erasmus building is ajar. So that students who have any questions feel they can always drop in. But in August, his door is firmly closed. Even though he’s there. Smeets: “On an empty floor, a bit like a hermit, I feel king of the campus.”
Full of inspiration, he can work undisturbed on his research that should eventually culminate in a book. Smeets: “I’m researching how the English term home is used in French literature. We first saw that in the 19th century, but it soon went out of fashion again in the 20th century. Particularly in French literature, this is really interesting!”
“An important figure is Thérèse Karr. I’d heard of her father: he was a writer, journalist and editor of the French newspaper Le Figaro. But I didn’t know anything about Thérèse. She also uses the English word home in one of her novellas. I wrote an academic article to better portray this woman because there was absolutely no information about her. Through research, I discovered that she was never recognised by her father and by delving into the archives and newspapers, I found out her year of death: 1887. This week I was told that my article has been approved and will be published in the Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France!”
Cycling home after work at the university, Smeets had an idea about how to approach the theoretical framework for his book into the development of the word home in French literature. Smeets: “Besides cycling, I always get a lot of inspiration when I’m walking. Being outside: that's another nice thing about summer!”
Although he prefers working in his office on campus during the summer, he does make one exception: “To give substance to the theoretical framework of my book, I will visit the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris after the summer. At least there I don't have to worry about whether they have a book or not!”
So far, he has found around 15 authors using home in French literature. Smeets: “In French, you could translate home as: maison, chez soi or foyer. However, none of these words cover the many meanings that the word home encompasses.”
There is also a very thick book waiting on his desk that he plans to start reading this summer. Smeets: “That’s the first volume - of three - of Victor Hugo's biography. All 1,300 pages of it. I’m reading it to prepare for a lecture I’ll be giving at the University of Amsterdam as part of the Language master's programme this autumn. Together with students, we read works by Victor Hugo using six different lieux de mémoire.”
Until then, he continues to enjoy the peace and quiet on campus: “I’m sure there are other researchers who enjoy doing research on campus in mid summer too. Sometimes I enjoy the peace and quiet so much and am so inspired to write that I have lunch at my desk and don't even leave my office. Anyway, for me it’s the best kept secret! However, I do look forward to the students returning in September and the lively atmosphere they bring to campus!”
This story is part of Recharge's summer series in which readers are given the opportunity to ask scholars a question. The Recharge editors then go and talk with Radboud University scholars to find the answers. This time the question was: why exactly is the summer period a nice time for a researcher to work?