Denis Retaillé

Who is Denis Retaillé?

Denis Retaillé is a Professor of Geography at the University of Bordeaux III and the Director of the CNRS ADES Research Unit, UMR 5186. Professor Retaillé holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Rouen dedicated to the study of the Nigerien région of Koutous, and an Habilitation from the Paris-Sorbonne University dedicated to the study of space in the Sahel. From 1993 to 2008, Denis Retaillé was a Professor of Geography at the University of Rouen, France.

Drawing on the work made by French geographer Jean Gallais in the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, Denis Retaillé has contributed to the understanding of space, in particular in the Sahara and in the Sahel and also in India. Building on his African fieldworks, he developed the idea of a nomadic space and of a mobile space. More generally, Denis Retaillé is interested in explaining the diversity of cultural representations in the globalised world.