RESEARCH
Research Interests
My broad research interests include 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone literature and visual culture, especially new women’s writing in French, feminisms, life writing and photography, including experimental urban photography and portraiture / self-portraiture. I have also published on installation art. I am currently working on the exploration of ageing, ageism, gender and care across media and in comparative perspective
Other Expertise
I have conducted pedagogic research on intercultural learning and ethnography for advanced language learners.
Current Work
I am currently preparing my next major monograph on ageing, ageism, old age and care in French literature, theory and visual culture since the publication of Simone de Beauvoir's La Vieillesse (1970). I am also undertaking a range of projects relating to the photographs of older people made by Belgian-born Magnum photographer Martine Franck. I am preparing a sole-edited special issue of the journal French Studies on Ageism, Ageing and Old Age in Contemporary French Culture which will appear in 2021. In addition I am co-editing a book entitled Women and Power in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures and Societies which examines the shifting terrain of women's power as articulated in a wide range of media and practices.
Future Research
I plan to build on my current research on ageing, ageism, gender and care, to form a major collaborative project which will be interdisciplinary and cross-cultural and which will highlight the value of humanities research in the area. I am also keen to bring to greater prominence the extensive, but largely neglected body of photographic work in which Martine Franck documents the lives of older people. I also continue to promote a wide range of research projects on contemporary women's writing in French and in comparative perspective by co-organizing the themed seminars which run each year at the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women’s Writing.
Current Research Roles and Contributions to the Wider Research Community
- Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women’s Writing (CCWW) and Director of the French seminar series (CWWF) at London University’s School of Advanced Study.
- Associate Fellow of the Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London
Member of:
Editorial Board of French Studies
Editorial Committee of Legenda Research Monographs in French Studies
Editorial Committee of Collection monographique Rodopi en littérature française contemporaine (Brill)
Editorial Advisory Board of French Cultural Studies
University of London in Paris (ULIP) Research Advisory Board
PhD Supervision
I have supervised PhDs on a wide range of contemporary French and Francophone writers, especially on life writing by women.
I am interested in research proposals pertaining to contemporary women’s writing in French, life writing, installation art, photography (urban or portrait), and projects situated at the visual / literary interface. I would especially welcome projects which address the key issues of ageing, ageism, old age and care.
I am currently supervisor for Jemima Jobling, who is conducting research on class identity in the work of Annie Ernaux, Christine Angot and Virginie Despentes, and Tomohide Mitsumori who is undertaking ethnographic research on rental maids and butlers in Tokyo.
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