Staff Profile
Dr Kathryn Robson
Reader in French
- Email: kathryn.robson@ncl.ac.uk
- Address: School of Modern Languages
Old Library Building
University of 缅北禁地 upon Tyne
缅北禁地 upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Background
After graduating with a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Spanish) at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, in 1997, I continued to do an MPhil and then a PhD, 'Writing Wounds: The Inscription of Trauma in Post-1968 French Women's Life-writing'. I was awarded the PhD from Cambridge in January 2002, when I came to 缅北禁地 as a lecturer in French.
Roles and Responsibilities
I am Degree Programme Director for T901 Modern Languages and Co-Director of Education in SML.
I am also joint Editor (with Adalgisa Georgio) of the Peter Lang Contemporary Women's Writing series.
Areas of expertise
- Contemporary French women's writing
- Trauma
- Sexual violence
- Empathy
- Happiness
Qualifications
1997: BA (Hons) Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Spanish), St Catharine's College, Cambridge - First Class with Distinction
1998: MPhil (Cambridge University)
2002: PhD (Cambridge University): title, 'Writing Wounds: The Inscription of Trauma in Post-1968 French Women's Life-writing'.
Memberships
Society for French Studies, UK
Seminar for contemporary women's writing in France.
Office hours 2025-6 semester 1: Tuesday 1-2 (OLB 5.10); Wednesday 11-12 (OLB 5.10); Thursday 10-11 ( online - call me on Teams or email me to see if I'll be in the office and we can meet there instead).
Research Interests
Contemporary French women's writing, trauma (particularly rape and sexual abuse), loss, eating disorders, empathy, happiness.
Other Expertise
Fiction and testimonies on the Occupation and on the Holocaust.
Current Work
Following my first monograph, Writing Wounds: The Inscription of Trauma in post-1968 French Women's Life-Writing (2004) I worked on sexual violence and eating disorders, before moving on to look at empathy, leading up to a second monograph, I Suffer Therefore I am: The Inscription of Empathy in Contemporary French Women's Writing. I am now working on representations of happiness in contemporary French women's writing and film and in French culture.
Research Roles
Conference Officer for the Society for French Studies Executive Committee (July 2006- July 2008)
Member of network on contemporary French women's writing (UK-wide).
Postgraduate Supervision
Willing to supervise work on post-war French literature, particularly women's writing and trauma, on eating disorders, empathy and happiness.
Esteem Indicators
Peer reviewer of articles for Modern Language Review and French Studies
Reviewer for grant application to the Israeli Science Fund
External reviewer for revised Modern Languages (T900/T901) programmes at Liverpool University
Reviewer for grant applications for the Austrian Science Fund
Invited reviewer for a Prize awarded by the the Journal of Modern Languages in St Andrews
Reviewer for Junior Research Fellowship application, St John’s College, Cambridge
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Undergraduate Teaching
Module leader for SML1018, first year literature.
Module leader and sole teacher of FRE4003 Occupation et resistance (module leader)
Module leader of FRE2009 Paris: histoire et culture
I also teach SML1022 Introduction to Cultural Studies.
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Articles
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2025, 120(4), 506-522.
- Robson K. . Quaderns de filologia. Estudis literaris 2022, 27, 27-42.
- Robson KA. . Irish Journal of French Studies 2019, 19, 70-86.
- Robson K. . l'Esprit créateur 2016, 56(2), 108-120.
- Robson K. . French Cultural Studies 2015, 26(1), 45-55.
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2015, 110(3), 677-693.
- Robson K. . French Studies 2015, 69(1), 46-59.
- Robson K. . Australian Journal of French Studies 2012, 49(3), 267-279.
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2011, 106(1), 99-114.
- Robson K. . Romance Studies 2007, 25(1), 57-67.
- Robson K. . Nottingham French Studies 2006, 45(3), 66-77.
- Robson K. . Nottingham French Studies (special issue on Focalizing the Body, eds. Gill Rye and Carrie Tarr) 2006, 45(3), 66-77.
- Best V, Robson K (guest eds.). . French Studies, special issue 2005, LIX(1).
- Best V, Robson K (guest eds.). . French Studies, special issue: Memory and Innovation in the post Holocaust generation in France (co guest-edited by Victoria Best and Kathryn Robson) 2005, LIX(1), 1-8.
- Robson K. . Australian Journal of French Studies 2004, 41(1), 3-15.
- Robson K. . Journal of Romance Studies 2004, 2(1), 79-90.
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2004, 99(3), 608-621.
- Kathryn Robson. . Cultural Values 2001, 5(1), 115-130.
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Authored Books
- Robson KA. . Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2025. In Press.
- Robson K. . Cambridge: Legenda, 2019.
- Robson K, Yee J. . Lanham: Lexington University Press, 2005.
- Robson K. . Amsetrdam/New York: Rodopi, 2004.
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Book Chapters
- Robson K. . In: Bagley, PM; Calamita, F; Robson, K, ed. Starvation, Food Obsession and Identity: Eating Disorders in Contemporary Women’s Writing. Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2017.
- Robson K. . In: Haaken, J; Reavey, P, ed. Memory Matters: Contexts for Understanding Sexual Abuse Recollections. London, New York: Routledge, 2009, pp.142-156.
- Robson K. . In: McNeill, I; Stephens, B, ed. Transmission: Essays in French Literature, Thought, and Culture. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2007.
- Robson K. . In: Barnet, M-C; Welch, E, ed. Affaires de famille: The Family in Contemporary French Culture and Theory. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007, pp.251-265.
- Robson K. . In: Georgio, A; Waters, J, ed. Women's Writing in Western Europe: Gender, Generation and Legacy. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007, pp.431-444.
- Robson K. . In: Webb, E, ed. Marie Cardinal: New Perspectives. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2006, pp.93-106.
- Robson K. . In: Rye, G., Worton, M, ed. Women's Writing in Contemporary France: New Writers, New Literatures in the 1990s. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002, pp.53-64.
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Edited Book
- Bagley P, Calamita F, Robson K, ed. . Oxford, UK: Peter Lang, 2018.
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Reviews
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2006, 101, 257-257.
- Robson K. . French Studies 2006, 60(4), 556-557.
- Robson K. . Modern Language Review 2005, 100, 220-221.
- Robson K. . French Studies 2005, 59(1), 124-125.
- Robson K. . French Studies 2005, 59(4), 584-585.