Fatiha Bouanani

Thesis Title

"Representations of Male Experiences, Patriarchy, and Masculinity in Postcolonial African Women’s Writing."

Gender in African literature has always been analysed from feminine perspectives with a focus on female characters. Therefore, an examination of male characters’ experiences, lives, and performances remains obfuscated. Moreover, when scholars examine masculinity as a gendered category, they tend to consider women as victims who need liberation while men as agents of patriarchy. As a corrective, my dissertation will examine male characters’ experiences in a patriarchal society and demonstrate that men are also victims of patriarchy, as depicted in the novels.

Fatiha's wider research interests include gender, culture, and social issues.  

Research Funding

Algerian Government Grant

Giuseppa Coppola

Biography

Giueseppa graduated in Modern Languages from the University of Palermo with a dissertation on Dubbing. Giueseppa is a trained teacher and has taught English as a foreign language and English literature in Italian schools for many years. Giueseppa is also a translator and interpreter. 

Thesis Title

"A Sociocognitive Approach to Audiovisual Translated Texts: Dubbing /Subtitling in TV Series (English/Italian)"

The project focuses on the sociolinguistics of  audiovisual and multimedia translated texts, where audiovisual translation includes ‘media translation’, ‘multimodal translation’, and ‘screen translation’. One of the working hypotheses is that an established tradition of dubbing has had an impact on the linguistic development of Italian. In particular, the research addresses dubbing and subtitling in two TV series: The Big Bang Theory and Grey’s Anatomy, and analyses aspects of inter-linguistic and inter-cultural transfer. In addition, the study discusses perceptions of suitability of translated language and culture when watching subtitled and dubbed TV series as they emerge from data gathered from diverse audiences.

Jasem Eidan

Biography

Jasem was awarded his BA in English Language and Literature from Kuwait University before obtaining his MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham.

Outside of his studies, Jasem worked as a full-time instructor at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) – Kuwait. He has taught English at The Colleges of Business Studies, Basic Studies, and Health Sciences in the English department.

Thesis Title

"The Transitory Linguistic Landscape of Kuwait: Secular and Sacred Festivals in the Public Space."

As the title denotes, I will examine Kuwait’s linguistic landscape (LL henceforth) over a calendar year documenting the changes that occur in accordance to the different occasions that take place. The occasions that I intend to look at in chronological order are: the Independence day, Liberation day, the month of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitir, Hajj season, Eid al-Adha, the month of Moharam (Ashoora), Christmas, and New year.   

I started my data collection process in February 2017 documenting the first two occasions mentioned above. There are several events and festivals that take place all over Kuwait in which both the private and the public agencies use Kuwait’s LL to participate in the occasions. I have documented numerous events and places by taking photographs and interviewing a number of the three main groups of LL actors: authorities in charge of the management of the public space such as the concourses in malls, the commercial actors in their role of sign originators, and the passers-by as the main interlocutors of the LL dialogic dimension. I also took into consideration the semiotic resources utilised as well as the soundscape used for the occasions. I have also come across other important elements that will be discussed and analysed in greater detail in the thesis. 

Jessica Hampton

Biography

Before arriving at Liverpool, Jessica completed a BA English Language and Linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire and, more recently, a MA Linguistics at the University of Manchester where she was awarded a Master’s Bursary by the Philological Society. Outside of her studies, Jessica cultivates her interests in ecolinguistics by acting as Membership Officer and Book Reviews Editor for the International Ecolinguistics Association.

Thesis Title 

"Kiel povas Esperanto helpi aliajn minoritatajn lingvojn? Stám a veder! How can Esperanto help other minority languages? Let’s find out! A sociolinguistic enquiry into the vitality of Esperanto and Modenese.”

In her research, Jessica aims to survey the level of vitality of both Esperanto and Modenese. While the latter is a variety of the endangered Gallo-Italic language spoken in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy, the former is a language developed in 1878 by Polish ophthalmologist Zamenhof. Although as a project Esperanto failed to fulfil its creator’s aspiration to become the new lingua franca, the vibrant Esperantist community now boasts a substantial number of members with, crucially, some speakers using Esperanto in caregiver-child interactions. A triangulation model was designed with the needs and peculiarities of the speech communities in mind and to collect data via the administration of a sociolinguistic questionnaire, using the diary for research method and by analysing found data on YouTube. The findings will try to shed light on issues around language ideology and how the active maintenance of Esperanto may help design new tools to maintain other minority languages. Ultimately, Jessica’s objective is to archive the data and make them accessible to whomever interested so that the records of both languages may serve myriads of scopes across a multitude of disciplines.

Research Funding

Buchanan Graduate Teaching Fellowship

Sijing Lu

Thesis Title

“More Than Words: A Multimodal Analysis of the Subtitling of Swearing, Neologism and Humour from English into Chinese”

This study focuses on the multimodal analysis of subtitled films from English into Chinese, with particular reference to the specific translation issues presented by swearing, neologisms and humour. This research is based on a film corpus I have established which consists of all the officially imported English-language films into China based on the revenue-sharing system from 1994 to 2017. I have classified the films in the corpus into different genres which include action thrillers/crimes, sci-fi, fantasy and superhero films, animated and live-action comedies. Each genre employs common features which present particular challenges for subtitling: the frequent use of swearwords in action thrillers/crimes, the substantial amount of neologisms in sci-fi, fantasy and superhero films, and the frequent appearance of multimodal humour in animated and live-action comedies. The main aim of this study is to investigate the value of a multimodal approach to studying the three translation issues in subtitled films and to highlight the importance of going beyond the linguistic analysis of subtitles, since subtitles are not designed to be consumed without accompanying semiotic resources in film.

Research Centre Memberships

I am a member of The British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS).

Adjoa Osei

Biography

Adjoa was awarded a 1st Class BA in Portuguese and Brazilian studies at King's College London. She completed her MPhil in Portuguese studies from Oxford University and recieved a distinction in the process. Adjoa recieved the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship on academic merit.

Thesis Title

"Performance Art, Intellectualism and Politics – A Study of An Afro-Brazilian Transnational Performer in the Early Twentieth Century."

Adjoa's thesis considers Brazilian women performers, from 1920 to 1940, and their interactions with internationalist political and artistic movements, linking Paris, Rio de Janeiro and New York. She examines Elsie Houston, the transnational Afro-Brazilian soprano, and will also comparatively consider Eros Volúsia, Anita Otero and Josephine Baker.  This will focus on transatlantic and inter-American artistic, cultural and political relations.  In particular, Adjoa sets out to evaluate racialized performance. She has been awarded both the AHRC (NWCDTP) and Duncan Norman scholarships to support her research; both were awarded on academic merit.

Research Funding

Duncan Norman Scholarship and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 

Susie Yavetz

Biography

Susie completed her MRes in Chinese Studies at the University of Liverpool. Before her MRes, Susie was awarded with a BA Hons (2:1) in English Language and Literature from Oxford University (St Anne’s College). Susie spent 10 years working as a journalist, translator, and author in Shanghai. She co-founded Literary Shanghai (a publishing & events organisation) in 2016, and worked as programme director and journal editor for the Royal Asiatic Society between 2012 and 2016.

Thesis Title

"The Persistent Appeal of the “China Exotic” in English Fiction Since 1978."

Susie's research will assess the persistence and development of such tropes across a wider swath of Anglophone literature since China’s Reform and Opening of the late 1970s. Susie's hypothesis that the stereotypical portrayals seen in the ‘Yellow Peril’ literature of the early 1900s (a cultural product that was both a reaction to and a stoking of the imperialist machine) have persisted across the course of the century, finding a new place in contemporary English literature, particularly in the genres of historical fiction, crime/thriller, romance, and travel writing. Susie's further hypothesis that this reification of tropes is partly due to the persistent appeal of what I will term the “China exotic”.

Susie's wider research interests include the representation of China in English literature. 

External Engagement

Co-founder of Literary Shanghai: a publishing and events company.