Author Archives: Tori Holmes

Postgraduate student interviews: Jordan McCullough (PhD)

This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Interview with Jordan McCullough, second year PhD student at QUB.

So, Jordan, what has been your university trajectory so far?

I studied French and Spanish at Queen’s, then continued on to do an MRes, with a dissertation examining end of life care in France, from the perspective of the patient and their family. While completing this, I felt like I would like to take things further and see where it might take me. I applied for PhD funding whilst I was still doing my MRes, got funded by Northern Bridge and here I am now, in the second year of my PhD!

What is the topic of your current research project?

My project looks at parental grief narratives, that is, writing by parents who have lost children for a variety of different causes, such as terminal illness, suicide, violent death, terrorist attacks or even accidental death. There are a wide range of causes of death but what I’m trying to do with that is to find out, first of all, what makes the parents write; what do they get out of it themselves, and what do they give to their children through this idea of continuing bonds and ongoing legacy, and secondly, what drives these parents to go beyond writing for themselves and their child and publish their text, and what changes when there’s a readership and an audience involved.

What has been the most interesting part of your research so far?

By far, the most interesting aspect of my research journey has been the short placement I undertook with the regional paediatric palliative care team in Brittany. It was wonderful to see how my research might have some sort of positive impact in the everyday lives of parents grieving the loss of their child. I learnt a lot from the staff at the unit and I think I was able to give something back in return. All being well, I hope to get back across to France next year to spend some more time with the team.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Evie Domingue (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Evie Domingue is an MRes in Arts and Humanities candidate, whose research focuses on representations of Afro-Brazilian women in the media and the ways they represent themselves in their own media productions. In this interview, I speak with Evie about, amongst other things, her reasons for pursuing research on this topic, the strong sense of urgency it holds in Brazil’s current socio-political context, and her advice for those thinking of doing an MRes.

Prior to postgraduate study, Evie completed her BA Hons in Spanish and Portuguese at Queen’s University Belfast. She cites the ‘Brazilian Digital Culture’ module that she completed in her final year, taught by her MRes supervisor Dr Tori Holmes, as having sparked her interests for both media and Brazilian studies. It also gave her the opportunity to incorporate her passion for race studies into the aforementioned topics. She notes that the independent study she completed as part of this module gave her insight as to what was to come for the MRes.

In terms of methodology, Evie is analysing various forms of media – a YouTube channel, music, a film, a streaming platform and a telenovela (serial drama) – and picking up on the most prominent themes within this material. She notes that whilst her project is still developing and evolving, so far she has found recurring topics in her research material to be issues of identity, black aesthetic standards in the realm of self-representation, and black female protagonism.

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Lexical Innovation and Terminological Advice in Breton and French: The Role of Online Spaces, 12 March 2021 – Seminar write-up

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On Friday the 12^th of March 2021, I attended Dr Merryn Davies-Deacon’s talk on Lexical Innovation and Terminological Advice in Breton and French: The Role of Online Spaces. I was intrigued by this presentation, because as part of my level 2 studies, I completed an assignment on the regional language of Breton as a token of identity. Furthermore, after having spent my year abroad in Spain, I became familiar with attitudes towards Spanish regional languages, and so, I was eager to find out more about the situation with regional languages in France.

Merryn’s talk certainly satisfied my desire for more information on the Breton language. Firstly, she broke down the complex title so that those who are not experts on the topic (like myself) were able to grasp it. From my understanding, lexical innovation involves words and phrases that Breton speakers coin from other languages, such as English and French, and adopt as part of their own dialogue. Terminological advice, however, involves the influences and guidance of official sources and authorities. As the focus of Merryn’s research was on online spaces, she delved into what the internet and social media means for the evolution of the Breton language. She raised the possibility of the internet being a leveling space, as it is a tool that all speakers can use to give their input. However, she juxtaposed this theory with the suggestion that given the Internet is subject to the control of authorities who own it, in fact, it replicates hierarchies instead of being an equal space.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Ciaran Harty (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On Wednesday 14^th April 2021, I had the pleasure of interviewing Queen’s PhD student in Spanish, Ciaran Harty. Ciaran completed his undergraduate degree in French and Spanish at QUB and then proceeded to do an MRes on the Representation of Madrid in the Artículos de Costumbre by the 19^th century Spanish writer, Mariano José de Larra. Whilst undertaking a PhD was not initially on the cards, Ciaran discovered a true passion for this particular area of studies, and so, in 2018 he began his PhD with the QUB Spanish department. The current working title of his thesis is: Precursors of Costumbrismo: The creation of a genre at the end of Spanish Enlightenment.

Ciaran described the Masters as a “stepping-stone” to the PhD, because although there are many similarities, the PhD unsurprisingly involves considerably more reading, researching and writing. I was particularly interested in finding out how his writing style had changed over time. Many undergraduate students believe the common misconception that in order to be successful in your degree, you must produce work with a high-brow, overly-academic style of writing. He assured me that while feeling this pressure was normal, and indeed something that he had experienced too, it was ultimately unnecessary. The most important thing is finding your own writing style and this is something that the PhD has allowed him to do. Through extensive reading, constructive feedback from peers and supervisors and consistently practising writing, he found that he was able to develop his own style and allow it to flow more naturally. This made the process more enjoyable for him and the content more digestible for his readers.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Laura Kennedy (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

From Paris to London to Queen’s, we caught up with Laura Kennedy to learn about her global PhD French project and her advice for undergraduates considering postgraduate study.

Q. What has your journey to PhD been like?

It’s been enjoyable, but unexpected. My B.A was in French studies at the University of London Institute in Paris. In my final year, I took a French colonialism class, and became really interested, particularly in Algeria. My interests have always been in literature and postcolonial literature was the perfect overlap. I did my final year dissertation on Kamel Daoud and his book Meursault, contre-enquête. The next step for me was to get a theoretical base of postcolonial scholarship. Once I graduated, I worked for a year in Paris and researched Masters programs. I found SOAS University of London. They did a Masters in Comparative Literature of Africa and Asia which I completed in 2020. SOAS was a watershed moment for me academically; I could focus in on my interests which I came to realize were language politics and postcolonial novels. Once I realized this, I put PhD proposals together – I wasn’t going to stop after the Masters. I felt like I would be an outsider coming to Queen’s at PhD. I’m happy to be mistaken on that. Within weeks, I felt welcome and part of the community.

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Narrations of Suffering and Recovery, PGR Research in Progress Workshop, 26 February 2021 – Seminar write-up

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021. It brings together write-ups, by three different undergraduate students, of presentations given as part of a Research in Progress Workshop by Postgraduate Research Students in Modern Languages on 26 February 2021. The talks covered were by Margaret Cunningham, Jordan McCullough, and Bushra Kalakh, and the workshop was chaired by Dr Ricki O’Rawe.

Margaret Cunningham, French

Anyone who has read a historical novel will know that fictional writing can recover and reinvent the past in ways which rejuvenate long forgotten narratives and perspectives. This quality of historical fiction is particularly important in post-colonial contexts where indigenous and local stories are too easily overlooked and silenced. In her talk on the 26^th February, Margaret Cunningham (PhD student in French at QUB) gave a fascinating insight into this topic.

In a presentation entitled ‘Multiperspectivity and Memory: Rewriting Disaster in the French Caribbean’, Margaret addressed disaster literature in the French Caribbean, with particular focus on fictional accounts of the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique. In this presentation, Margaret examined the ways in which Martinican author Daniel Picouly bears witness to and measures the cultural effects of this disaster in his book Quatre-vingt-dix secondes (90 Seconds).

The French Caribbean, Margaret explained, has a long history of suffering. Not only is it vulnerable to natural disaster, but French colonization meant that the islands have a turbulent history, rife with tyranny and social unrest. Because of this, there is a contentious social climate in Martinique, with controversy surrounding memories and intense debate over which anniversaries should be celebrated. Margaret argued that literature plays a crucial role in navigating debate surrounding Martinique’s troubled past and becomes a vehicle to produce new cultural memory. Through the fictional rewriting of real historical events, authors can recover and reinvent the past, repressing trauma and prioritizing certain perspectives and narratives.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Jordan Hamilton (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Jordan Hamilton began his higher education trajectory with a BA Hons degree in English and Spanish at Queen’s University Belfast. Looking ahead to potential postgraduate study, Jordan decided to pursue his interests in Golden Age Spanish literature. Subsequently, he applied to do the MRes in Arts and Humanities. Jordan went on to successfully complete the MRes on a part-time basis under the supervision of Dr Anne Holloway.

In the following interview, Jordan reflects on his research project and methodologies. He also offers advice for undergraduate students who are considering following a similar academic pathway.

The key focus of Jordan’s MRes project was the New Spanish poet and Hieronymite nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695). His interest in this figure was sparked during the third year cultural cursillo (mini-module) on ‘Foreign Correspondents’, when he was allocated her love poetry as the theme for his class presentation. It was precisely the preparatory research that Jordan carried out for this presentation, which inspired his interest in Sor Juana’s poem Romance 51. This newfound passion served as the catalyst for his MRes proposal. Initially, his proposal included Sor Juana’s Renaissance love poetry and her self-representation.

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Portuguese Cultural Events, 8 and 11 December 2020

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In December we again hosted our by now traditional annual Portuguese cultural event, supported by the Instituto Camões and organised by our Camões Tutor, Vítor Fernandes. The constraints on physical movement and gathering in 2020 became an opportunity as the shift to the online mode allowed us to organise not one but two events in the same week, via video call! We were delighted to host fascinating conversations with well-known Portuguese journalists and writers Alexandra Lucas Coelho (on the topic “Between Brazil and Portugal”, led by Tori Holmes, Senior Lecturer in Brazilian Studies) and Joana Gorjão Henriques (on “Contemporary Portugal: Challenges”, led by Maria Tavares, Senior Lecturer in Portuguese Studies). Both events were held in English and open to students, researchers, and members of the Portuguese-speaking community.

Echoes of 18th-Century Spanish Literature in the British Romantic Press, 4 December 2020 – Seminar write-up

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

The final seminar talk of the Semester 1 Modern Languages Core Disciplinary Research Group series took place on Friday 4^th December. The seminar, ‘Echoes of 18^th-century Spanish literature in the British Romantic Press’, was presented by Dr Leticia Villamediana (Hispanic Studies, University of Warwick).

Dr Villamediana began by contextualising her research, explaining that it is part of a larger project with universities in the UK and Spain. The project, ‘Hispanic Literature in the British Romantic Periodical Press: Appropriating and Rewriting the Canon’, aims to build a map of British Hispanism in the Romantic period by exploring Hispanic literature featured in the British periodical press between 1802 and 1832. Reviews of Spanish literature in British periodicals helped to broaden readers’ knowledge of foreign culture and played a role in shaping public opinion.

British interest in Spanish history, culture and literature emerged only in the beginning of the 19^th century, the cause of this being the Peninsular War. In the eyes of Great Britain, Spanish literature had previously been regarded as backward and the antithesis of Enlightenment ideals. However, during the Romantic era, reviews of Spanish literature and other foreign works began to appear more prominently in British periodical publications, such as Richard Phillip’s The Monthly Magazine. Periodicals such as these aimed to show the progression of the liberal arts in different countries and published a list of Spanish works and authors. Over time, the section increased, showing the growing interest in the field. The press gave a positive review of Spain and praised its literary progress. Robert Southey, a leading Hispanist of the Romantic period, was a notable contributor to these periodicals. He translated many Spanish Romance texts, wrote a History of the Peninsular War, and was responsible for the publication of a new section on Spanish poetry in The Monthly Magazine.

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The Contact Zones of Disease, 16 October 2020 – Seminar write-up

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On Friday 16^th October 2020, Dr Steven Wilson (French, QUB) gave a talk on his research on ‘The Contact Zones of Disease: Sites of Infection and Contagion in the Nineteenth-Century French Syphilis Narrative’. This seminar talk was the first of the Semester 1 Modern Languages Core Disciplinary Research Group series. The talk centred on how we use the language of infection, infestation and warfare to talk about the diseased body, the concept of borders in our understanding of disease, and the representations of syphilis in 19^th century French literature.

Credit: A shield to protect against syphilis represented as a skull. Lithograph, 1924/1930. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

I found the introduction of the talk to be particularly interesting as, using an example from Donald Trump, Dr Wilson described how the American President uses the language of infestation to talk about immigrants, saying that they ‘infest’ the country. This language would normally be used to describe a poisonous insect or animal, but Trump uses it to express his fear of immigrants crossing the border and, more importantly, to mark them as a threat to public health. Derogatory language like this is unpleasant to hear, but it is not a new concept. For centuries, we have been using the language of infectious diseases to describe the borders and boundaries that mediate human contact. Even now, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, travellers crossing borders must quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease, and positive cases are forced to isolate. All of this causes us to regard the diseased body as the dangerous body, something that must be contained in order to protect the lives of others, and a border as something that keeps us safe. Moreover, Western societies are obsessed with the image of disease-carrying immigrants and feel threatened by the idea of the ‘contact zone’, or the spaces where cultures meet. The deadliest pandemic of the 20^th century was called the Spanish influenza as the first cases were diagnosed in Spain, and even today, we have the ‘Chinese virus’, as labelled by Trump. These examples highlight how the language of borders is deeply ingrained in how diseases are represented and understood.

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