Researcher profiles
This page provides access to the Researcher Profiles of postgraduate students across the Arts Faculty.
Stephen Andriano-Moore
Course Title: PhD Film Studies
Thesis Title: Randy Thom and the Production Culture of Film Sound Practitioners
Research Summary:
My doctorial research focuses on the production culture, industrial practices and practitioner discourse of contemporary Hollywood film sound practitioners. This thesis engages with the production culture studies by John Caldwell and James Lastra. Similarly to Caldwell’s book Production Culture, concerned with industrial self-reflexivity of below-the-line Hollywood workers, the focus of this thesis is on the self-reflexivity of Randy Thom and his contemporaries concerning the production culture of contemporary Hollywood sound practitioners. This thesis looks specifically at the production practices and discourse surrounding the work of the Northern California based Academy Award winning sound designer and re-recording mixer Randy Thom. Thom learned the craft of film sound in Northern California in the late 1970s working with Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Walter Murch where a sound designer takes part in the entire filmmaking process starting in the pre-production phase while holding multiple roles such as sound designer and re-recording mixer. The Northern California approach is differs from the typical Southern California approach where the sound designer or supervising sound editor is not hired until the beginning of the post-production phase and specializes in a single craft. This thesis discusses issues of labor that include concerns over the status of film sound and film sound practitioners, work roles, screen credits and perceptions of artistic and technical work. This thesis will illuminate contemporary production practices, issues of labor as well as how practitioners are advancing the craft of film sound.
Other Research Interests: Film production, digital media, sound in media, production culture, sociology of work, Hollywood cinema, independent cinema and media literacy.
back to top
James Andow
Course Title: PhD in Philosophy
Thesis Title: Intuitions in the face of Diversity (provisionary title)
Research Interests:
My interests are primarily in philosophical methodology with particular focus upon the use of intuition(s) as evidence and the developing field of experimental philosophy.
I am a founder member of Experimental Philosophy Group UK which provides a forum for UK-based researchers from all disciplines engaged in using experimental methods to investigate philosophical topics. We have held two successful workshops in Sept 2010 (Bristol) and Sept 2011 (Sheffield). A third will take place in Nottingham in Sept 2012.
See James Andow's full profile on the Department of Philosophy's website.
back to top
Mariana de Sousa Matoso
Course Title: PhD in Lusophone Studies
Proposed thesis title: Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Lusophone Africa: “Water, water everywhere” and maybe a “drop to drink”
The research project addresses the topic of Water Governance in Africa, focusing on the systems of water supply and sanitation implemented within the Southern region. Access to water and sanitation is one of the major challenges facing human race in the 21st century, particularly in Southern Africa, one of the world’s worst affected areas. Having chronically suffered from water stress, this region’s countries are now more than ever compelled to improve their water governance levels in order to attain the acceptable human requirements defined by the international community. The research will compare the situation in both Angola and Mozambique, analysing the consequences of the complex dynamics (social, political, technological and economical) involved in determining water policies in the countries’ both urban and rural areas. The South African case will be used as a comparator, since it is considered to be at the forefront of this thematic.
back to top
Kavitha Ganesan
Course Title: PhD; School of English Studies
Thesis Title: Malaysian Literaturin English: Contemporary Works of Fiction and Non-Fiction by Female Writers of Malay, Chinese and Indian Ethnic Backgrounds (2001-2010)
Research Summary:
Multi ethnic and multi lingual Malaysia has been the ground for the emergence of various kinds of literary works. This is mainly due to the colonial past, previous and existing implementation of policies, and varying ethnic backgrounds of the Malaysian populace. Consequently, the debate between English (the colonial language), Bahasa Malaysia (the national language) and the ethnic languages (1) (the mother tongue) has been prevalent throughout the years. Therefore, when attempting to examine Malaysian Literature in English namely in relation to its contemporary development, one has to be aware of its complexity. The continual implementation of national policies have caused varying degree of involvement among writers of each ethnic group (i.e. Malays, Chinese and Indians), resulting in inconsistent works produced in English over the years. Many of such writers have also left the country and continue to write from their new “exilic home” (2). To make matters worse, most “new” writers do not seem to continue writing after publishing one or two popular works which Washima Che Dan and Noritah Omar termed as “one-hit wonders” (3). This is further complicated by the gradual increase in the number of Chinese and Indian female writers within the past decade (2001-2010). Malay female writers, on the other hand, although have increased in number, they are still relatively few compared to the Chinese and Indian female writers and to date, have not published fictional novels except for newcomer, Zaipah Ibrahim. Inevitably then, the questions that one is probed to ask with reference to the local literary scene would be, ‘why are more Malaysian female writers writing novels (fiction and non-fiction) in the recent years’; ‘what has brought to the increase in the number of female writers among the Chinese and Indian unlike their Malay counterparts’; ‘do numbers actually matter in a literary realm that is yet to see its maturity’; and most importantly, ‘have Malaysian women writers found a voice of their own in their writing or are they simply continuing a tradition set by men in the nation’? Above all, would these writers be able to shed some light on the prevailing problem of language and identity politics in Malaysia as they have made a choice to write in English as their writings “share the advantage of clear attitudinal and linguistical neutrality” (4) that eventually may permit “neutralised identities” (5) to emerge through literary texts, especially in the context of Malaysia where it represents none of the ethnic groups. The researcher wishes to examine these questions based on the following writers and texts:
|
Writers’ Ethnic Backgrounds/ Works of Fiction and Non-Fiction
|
Malay
|
Chinese
|
Indian
|
|
Biography (Non- Fiction)
|
Adibah Amin – The Other End of the Rainbow (2006)
|
Christine Wu Ramsay – Days Gone By: Growing Up in Penang (2007)
|
Muthamal Palanisamy – Shore to Shore (2002)
|
|
Collection of Essays
(Non-Fiction)
|
Dina Zaman – I Am Muslim (2007)
|
Lee Su Kim - A Nyonya in Texas (2007)
|
Charlene Rajendran – Taxi Tales (2009)
|
|
Fiction - ethnocentric themes & characterisation
|
Zaipah Ibrahim – The Gift (2009)
|
Chan Ling Yap – Sweet Offerings (2010)
|
Preeta Samarasan – Evening is the Whole Day (2008)
|
|
Fiction- universal themes & characterisation
|
Che Husna Azhari – An English Sojourn (collection of short stories) (2008)
|
Tinling Choong – Fire Wife (2007)
|
Rani Manicka – Touching Earth (2005)
|
(1)Majority West (Peninsula) Malaysians speak Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin or Tamil depending on their ethnic background. Most Malays speak fluent standard variety of Bahasa Malaysia but it is also common for the Malays to have different accents from state to state which is especially distinguishable through speech patterns. The Chinese have their own dialects, other than Mandarin Malaysian Chinese also speak Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew, Hainanese, Min Bei and Foochow. The Indians who are Tamils speak Tamil, while the other common Indian languages are Malayalam, Telegu, Sinhalese, Bengali and Punjabi. The common languages among the indigenous people of West Malaysia or better known as Orang Asli are Temiar, Jakun, Temuan, Senoi and Biduanda. East Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak speak indigenous languages like Kadazandusun, Bajau, Bugis, and Iban. The East Malaysians’ spoken Malay is known as either Bahasa Melayu Sabah or Bahasa Melayu Sarawak.
(2)See Sharing Borders Studies in Contemporary Singaporean-Malaysian Literature I. Writing Asia: The Literatures in Englishes. Vol. 2. Edwin Thumboo (General Editor). Edited by Mohammad A. Quayum & Wong Phui Nam. Singapore: National Library Board and National Arts Council, (2009) pg. 21.
(3)See “Writing Malaysia in English: A Critical Perspective” in Sharing Borders Studies in Contemporary Singaporean-Malaysian Literature II. Writing Asia: The Literatures in Englishes. Vol. 2. Edwin Thumboo (General Editor). Edited by Gwee Li Sui. Singapore: National Library Board and National Arts Council, (2009) pg. 153.
(4)Kachru, Braj B. “The Alchemy of English” in The Post-colonial Studies Reader. Edited by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. London and New York: Routledge (1995) pg. 292.
(5) Ibid.
back to top
Catherine Gilbert
Course Title: PhD French and Francophone Studies
Thesis Title: Writing Trauma: Silence in Rwandan Women’s Testimonial Literature
Research Summary:
During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, acts of unspeakable violence, including rape, were committed against women. Without any form of official documentation, how can their experiences be communicated? My thesis will analyse the responses to trauma in Rwandan women genocide survivors’ testimonial literature. I intend my thesis to be a comprehensive study of the women authors who have published in French to date, focusing on the works of Annick Kayitesi, Berthe Kayitesi, Esther Mujawayo, Yolande Mukagasana, Scholastique Mukasonga, and Marie-Aimable Umurerwa. These women’s testimonies enable us to re-examine the tragic events from a female perspective and tell us a great deal about the devastating effects of genocide and the ongoing process of surviving trauma.
I am particularly interested in the role of silence within and surrounding the testimonies, as well as the selection of information that is presented in the testimonies and how these women understand their role as witnesses. Situating my research within the framework of trauma theory, I wish to show how the leitmotiv of silence has become an integral part of women’s testimonial literature, resulting in the creation of a poetics of silence. For women survivors, the act of writing is a means of breaking the ‘historic silence of women’ and also of giving form to this silence, testifying to its existence. Moreover, their testimonies play a vital role in communicating and preserving the memory of the genocide, leading to new ways of thinking of contemporary literature.
Other Research Interests: My interest in contemporary Francophone literature ranges from Africa to Quebec and the Caribbean. My MA thesis examined the relationship between testimony and fiction in the novels of Haitian author Marie-Célie Agnant. I am also interested in questions of post-colonialism, immigration and identity, and women’s writing.
back to top
Adam Horsley
Course Title: PhD French
Thesis Title: Freedom and Licence in French Literature 1595 – 1655: Libertinage ou Affranchissement?
My thesis challenges certain definitions of libertinage in early seventeenth-century French texts that have thus far been accepted by modern critics. Examining libertin source texts and contemporary critics as well as libertin works, I will determine the extent to which libertin literature constitutes an escape from servitude (as the Latin root of the word - libertinus - would suggest). I will also explain the link between the libertins and atheism; re-examining the accusations of impiety made towards these writers by men of religion in order to evaluate their validity.
Continuing with this distinction between libertinage and affranchissement, the thesis will also consider purely literary emancipation from regulation; that is to say texts which break with convention through their form rather than their content. In these instances, it will examine works which are freed from literary convention, but which were not accused of libertinage, and determine why this is the case. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to highlight the inadequacy of the word libertin as it is currently used, and to suggest other ways in which we might refer to freethinking writers of the Early Modern period.
Other research interests: My MA focused largely on the works of Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as the distinction between natural and blasphemous imagery in the poetry of Théophile de Viau. I have presented papers on the influences of Montaigne in the animals of Cyrano’s L’Autre Monde (Nottingham, June 2010) and the varying notions of utopia in seventeenth-century literature (Bristol, September 2010). I am also interested in the influences of the scientific revolution on seventeenth-century thought, and critiques of the supernatural and the demonological. I am currently researching unorthodox plays of the 1620s and 1630s.
back to top
Nuno Barradas Jorge
Course Title: PhD Film Studies
Thesis Title: Pedro Costa: Producing and Consuming ‘Art Cinema’ in the Digital Era
Research Summary:
My doctorial research focuses on the work of the film director Pedro Costa. It contextualizes the work of this filmmaker as a paradigmatic example of a contemporary art cinema that has adapted to the gradual changes in European cinema and to recent production practices, and whose work is exhibit in multiple exhibition formats. My research focuses on recent paradigms in production, such as digital video, the critical debates surrounding contemporary art cinema (in particular ‘slow cinema’), and new film networks that deal with film sponsorship, circulation and reception, such as international film festivals and art galleries.
Other Research Interests: Contemporary Iberian and Latin American cinema, cult and art film and multimedia arts.
Recent Publications:
Review of The Miracle of P Tinto (El milagro de P Tinto) and Mutant Action (Acción Mutante), in Hortelano, Lorenzo J. Torres (ed.), Directory of World Cinema: Spain. London: Intellect (Directory of World Cinema series), 2011.
“El ‘nuevo castizo’: estereotipos típicos en las películas de Torrente,” de Santiago Segura in Nadia LIE, Silvana MANDOLESSI & Dagmar VANDEBOSCH (eds.). El juego con los estereotipos. La redefinición de la identidad hispánica en la literatura y el cine posnacionales. Oxford: Peter Lang, forthcoming 2012.
back to top
Linda Marchant
Course title: PhD Film Studies (Part time)
Thesis Title: Cornel Lucas: British Film Photography
Research Area: My thesis is a study of the work of British photographer Cornel Lucas (1920 - ), who was head of the photographic studio for the Rank Organisation at Pinewood studios in the 1950s. In 1998 he was the first stills photographer to be awarded a BAFTA for his services to film, and in 2005 there was a retrospective exhibition of his work at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The thesis aims to look at his work with particular emphasis on working practices and status of the photographer as a behind the scenes worker in the British film industry. It will also consider the ways in which his images as cultural objects contribute to discourses of Britishness, style and glamour. The thesis looks at dissemination, public recognition and reframing of his work as significant to British photographic portraiture.
Other Research Interests: The relationship between photography, celebrity and commodity culture; celebrity film portraiture of the 1930s and 1940s; ideas around ‘visual gossip’ of celebrity magazine culture.
back to top
Simon R. Nicholls
Course Title: PhD French and Hispanic Studies
Thesis Title: Regionalism in the Western Mediterranean: a comparative study of Island Nationality in the Balearic Islands and Corsica, 1975-2000
Research Summary:
My research will focus on the phenomena of ethno-regionalism in the Balearic Islands and Corsica in the late twentieth century in a comparative context. Specifically, using concepts of nationalism as a foundation, I shall be examining the degree to which each of the islands can be deemed to possess their own sense of being and whether such sentiments become more extreme when or if there is only one ‘other’ from which to distinguish themselves. In addition, I will assess whether such sentiments are linked to the relative authoritarianism or liberalism of central governments’ regional policies. This will include an analysis of each linguistic territory and the role of local institutions in disseminating regional languages and more generally in reinforcing each island’s identity. Finally, there will be an examination of regional parties and/or separatist movements’ actions in relation to regional and national governmental bodies and civilian populations.
Other Research Interests: Concepts of ethno-nationalism and mainstream and militant regionalist entities; Catalan identity in Languedoc-Roussillon; Sociolinguistics; Theories of nationalism.
back to top
Sylwia Szostak
Course title: PhD Television Studies
Thesis Title: From 'Dallas' to 'Lost': Polish broadcasters and American programming
Research Summary:
The notion that the United States has exercised cultural domination over the rest of the world has long been researched in terms of the media, or what Thompson has described as an ‘electronic invasion’. American television has alternately been perceived as either a supply of media products and source of variety (Bourdon 2009), or as a cultural threat to local traditions and heritage (Buonanno 2007). Both these perspectives complicate the now outdated notion that the powerful US exports its television to powerless nations which have no options other than passive acceptance.
Recent studies see the purported ‘Americanization’ of the global television marketplace as a dynamic interchange. The exported product does not have a predetermined meaning; meaning is determined by both the producers and the consumers in their national context. It is the broadcaster, recognized by Havens (2006) as a ‘decoder’, who becomes the key figure in this dynamic. The broadcaster not only makes important decisions about which programmes to air, but takes account of the national television environment, domestic audiences and channel requirements, thus enabling the assimilation of cultural imports within a particular national cultural context.
My project aims to investigate the dialogue that has existed between American and Polish television cultures since the dismantling of censorship and the fall of Communism, taking the broadcaster (the Polish national public broadcaster TVP and the commercial television networks – TVN and Polsat) as the main point of inquiry. My primary motivation is to contribute to the body of work done on the translation of American TV series abroad (Havens 2006, Rixon 2006, Ang 1991), which has as yet ignored Poland and other post-Soviet block countries. I wish to address this lacuna by applying a number of critical frameworks, including that of Paul Rixon’s concept of broadcasters as ‘active mediators’, developed in his study of British television’s assimilation of American programmes. I will therefore investigate the ways in which the new national setting and market requirements make different uses of US television imports.
back to top