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French

French

 

Research in French

The French group at Cambridge produces world-leading research in a very wide range of areas in French Studies (French literature from early medieval texts to contemporary French writing, the history of the language and linguistics, early modern and modern French thought, cultural history, and cinema).

Cutting-edge international research is fostered in an environment that provides exceptional research facilities and extensive opportunities for exchange and debate in seminars and colloquia. Mentoring and close collaboration have facilitated the cohesion of a changing and dynamic community of researchers who carry forward a long tradition of excellence. The intellectual breadth of Cambridge French is reflected in its various thriving research areas:

History of the French Language and French Linguistics; Early and Late Medieval French and Occitan; Renaissance and Neo-Latin studies; Early Modern French; Nineteenth-century Cultural History; Modern French Thought and Philosophy; Film and Visual Culture.

Research Projects

Medieval Francophone Literary Culture Outside France

This project was awarded a substantial research grant of £850,652 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to investigate the nature of multiple francophone literary cultures, centred not on France (often meaning Paris) but on two other important axes for the transmission of francophone textual culture: one that goes from England across Flanders, Burgundy and beyond; and another across the Alps to Northern Italy, into the Mediterranean and further afield to Cyprus and the Levant.  

Project outputs will include an online database, a series of seminars and conferences, publications, and an exhibit at the Cambridge University Library. It will run until September 2014 and includes four investigators: Simon Gaunt (PI, King's London), Bill Burgwinkle (Cambridge French), Jane Gilbert (University College London), and Paul Vetch (Centre for Computing in the Humanities, KCL); two Research Associates: Nicola Morato (Cambridge) and Dirk Schoenaers (UCL); and a Research student, David Murray (MML alumnus in French and German, now at KCL).

 

Latest News

MMLL student wins Brian Darling Memorial Essay Prize Competition

15 March 2024

We are proud to share that Georgia Goble has won the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) Brian Darling Memorial Essay Prize Competition with her essay on Loridan-Ivens, Ernaux and Levinas.

MMLL Alumna featured in French Culture Lecture Series

26 February 2024

The investigative journalist and MMLL alumna, Natalie Sauer (Homerton 2013), delivered an engaging presentation as part of the French Culture Lecture Series for second-year French students on the 23rd of February.

French Poetry Event at Trinity College

9 February 2024

Please join us for an exceptional exhibition of the Trinity College French Poetry collection at the Wren Library, followed by a poetry reading by Béatrice Bonhomme.

Dr Sura Qadiri awarded CRASSH Early Career Fellowship

5 February 2024

We are proud to share that Dr Sura Qadiri has been awarded a CRASSH Early Career Fellowship to work on her current book manuscript, Postsecular Poetics: Reading Religion in French and Francophone Literature.

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