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Biography
My recent work has focused on the various ways in which linguistic difference and cultural difference are experienced and represented in the literary and cultural production of Francophone Canadian writers. My research draws both on the history of colonialism and on postcolonial theory. My most recent monograph explores literary histories of Francophone writing in Canada. The book considers ways in which literary histories are produced and are used. Through an analysis of aspects of the literary history of Francophone writing in Canada in the Twentieth Century, the book reflects on the very processes which underlie all literary histories, products as they are of specific ideological, social and cultural discourses.
Expertise Summary
My teaching and research lie within the broad field of Twentieth Century French and Francophone Studies. I am interested in the culture and literature of France and of other French-speaking countries, particularly of Canada. My most recent publications have concentrated on the impact of Canada's colonial past and postcolonial present on the literary and cultural life of its Francophone population. I have drawn on a range of methodological and theoretical approaches in my work, including postcolonial studies, translation studies, cultural geography and cultural studies. My most recent publications have included the following: What is Quebecois Literature? Reflections on the LIterary History of Francophone Writing in Canada (Liverpool University Press, 2013) Between Languages and Cultures: Colonial and Postcolonial Readings of Gabrielle Roy (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009) awarded the Prix Pierre Savard 2010 Guest editor of 'Cultural and Linguistic Contact and Conflict in Francophone Canada', special issue of International Journal of Francophone Studies, vol. 9, 3, 2006 For a full list of books, edited volumes, chapters and articles, see the publication tab. Postgraduate supervision I have supervised and jointly supervised 11 PhD theses, 2 MPhil theses, 5 MA by Research and many taught MA dissertations. My PhD students have worked on Sartre's interviews (Jean-Pierre Boulé), the language of Sartre's novels (Ros Silvester), Sartre's juvenilia (Amanda Crawley-Jackson), the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel (Helen Tattam), the novels of Anne Hébert (Catherine Wright), the novels of the Révolution tranquille in 1960s Quebec (Rebekah Smith-McGloin), the Acadian writer Antonine Maillet (Kathryn Gannon)), Belgian colonial writing (Pierre-Philippe Fraiture), erotic writing by women (Corinne Hénault), political writing in 1930s France (Angela Kershaw) and Tucholsky in France (Stephanie Burrows). I am currently co-supervising two PhD theses, one on migrant Chinese women writers and one on the theatre of Hélène Cixous. I would be interested in supervising PhD students in any related topics or in fields that intersect with my own current research, including the application of translation studies to the literature of Francophone Canada.
Teaching Summary
My teaching and research lie within the broad field of Twentieth Century French Studies. I am interested in the culture and literature of France and of other French-speaking countries, particularly… read more
Research Summary
My most recent research project is a monograph entitled 'What is Québécois Literature?', which studies various ways in which the literary history of Twentieth Century Canadian literature in French… read more
My teaching and research lie within the broad field of Twentieth Century French Studies. I am interested in the culture and literature of France and of other French-speaking countries, particularly of Canada. My specialist modules include the following: the literature of Quebec between 1960 and 1980, Francophone Canadian Writing (a module which studies texts written by authors from Quebec and from outside of Quebec from the early to late Twentieth Century); Sartre and Existentialism (which examines work from the wide range of Sartre's output, including plays, novels, short stories, philosophical essay, autobiographical and political writing).
Current Research
My most recent research project is a monograph entitled 'What is Québécois Literature?', which studies various ways in which the literary history of Twentieth Century Canadian literature in French has been constructed and mediated.
Since completing that project I have begun work on two new projects. I have edited a special issue of Nottingham French Studies, on Francophone Canadian Studies, which appeared in 2016 and includes work by UK-based specialists on film, literature and linguistics. I am also in the early stages of my next major project which will focus on the place of theatre in the history of Francophone Canadian literature.
Past Research
My PhD research focused on the work of Henry Poulaille as a writer, publisher and promoter of proletarian literature in French in the inter-war years. More recently my work has been in the field of Francophone Canadian Literature, which includes the literature of Quebec, but also that produced by francophone writers from other Canadian provinces. I have published a study of the representations of space and place in Quebec literature which included chapters on authors such as Louis Hémon, Michel Tremblay, Anne Hébert, Jacques Poulin and Régine Robin. I then wrote a monograph which studied the work of Manitoban-born author Gabrielle Roy, approaching it from the perspective of bilingualism and biculturalism. In order to grasp the significance of her bilingual and bicultural background I drew on work in the field of colonial and postcolonial studies, translation studies and cultural studies. In particular I studied the ways in which her education had shaped the ways in which she related to both French-language and English language cultures and how her biculturalism opened up a fascination with other cultures. My most recent monograph, What is Québécois Literature? (Liverpool University Press, 2013) examined the ways in which the history of Francophone Writing in Quebec and in Canada more generally has been told. This included detailed study of the role of the curriculum, of anthologies and literary histories have presented the French-language literature of Canada to pupils, students and readers. It also considered what the various narratives of literary history omit or marginalise, including literature written in French by members of Canada's indigenous population.
Future Research
I am interested in the literature and culture both of Quebec and of Francophone populations across Canada. My next monograph will grow out of my new area of research into the ways in which the history of Francophone Canadian theatre has been told.