A specialist of early modern French literature and culture, he is the author of Figurations of France: Literary Nation-Building in Times of Crisis, 1550-1650 (Newark: U of Delaware Press, 2011), as well as articles on Rabelais, Montaigne, and Corneille among others. Further research and teaching interests include French and European theater and performance studies, and the appropriation of early modern literature and culture in contemporary arts and philosophy. Here, Prof. Keller discusses the recent French Presidential election, held in two rounds on April 22 and May 6, which saw François Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.