MPhil thesis in the University of Bristol's e-thesis collection

 I'm very excited to announce that I have now been officially awarded the Degree of Master of Philosophy following the submission of the final copy of my thesis to the University of Bristol's e-thesis collection. Embarking on a research degree has been such a rich and fulfilling experience. I quickly realised that it is nothing like studying a taught degree, and that part of the process is to learn how to be a researcher and to manage the challenges and opportunities of a completely independent project. I became very ill towards the end of my first year which presented a further challenge - I am grateful to all those and the University, who supported me through this and enabled me to finish my research project. I am now working in a role where I get to help other students navigate the research degree process so I am finding this particularly rewarding. My thesis is available to read online and you can find the abstract below:

The Harry Potter film franchise and the representation of traditional Britishness: a paratextual study, 2000 - 2011

The relationship between film and national identity is an enduring topic of scholarly interest. Focusing on British national identity in particular, Sarah Street discusses the important role of film: ‘we have inherited a dominant conception of what it is to be British…which has, in part, been constructed by cultural referents including cinema’ (2009: 1). With this in mind, what role might the British characters and settings in the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise have played in forming ideas about British national identity?

This thesis uses textual analysis of the Harry Potter film paratexts (promotional materials surrounding the films) in an attempt to answer this question. Phil Wickham explains the usefulness of this approach arguing that analysing these types of materials ‘can make meaning and provide historical evidence of the place of a film in its world and in the lives of those who saw it’ (2010: 316). These texts can tell us how the film’s visual representations of traditional Britishness were framed for audiences at the time, even for those who never even ended up seeing the films.

This thesis presents an analysis of paratexts surrounding the first and final two films of the series. This provides a sense of how the series’ representations of traditional Britishness were first introduced to audiences and how their legacy was later established through long-standing experiential paratexts.

Poster Presentation at Breaking Boundaries Conference

I haven't posted in a while as I've been busy finishing my thesis and preparing for my viva. Now that I have finished my research project, I'm really looking forward to some upcoming opportunities to share my findings. The first is at Breaking Boundaries, a virtual interdisciplinary conference for postgraduate researchers in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, taking place 11-13 May. I want to make my research more accessible to a wider audience so I have designed a poster, which will be exhibited on Zoom during the lunch breaks and on the conference's Twitter account. There are also some really interesting presentations being delivered in areas such as group identities, untold histories and Big Media and democracy. You can register as an attendee for free here.

New publication - report on Tourism Cinema and TV Series conference

In October 2018 I travelled to Lille to attend a day conference on Tourism, Cinema and TV Series. This helped me to situate my interest in Harry Potter experiential paratexts within the research field of screen tourism. On the day, the conference topic was discussed from a variety of perspectives (industrial, cultural, practical) as the presenters drew on different case studies. I wrote up a report, which has now been published in Transatlantica journal. You can read it here: https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/13571  

HoMER@Bahamas conference 2019

As a result of such generous donations from a number of individuals and organisations, I was able to attend the HoMER Network conference 2019 in The Bahamas and present my research.

My presentation explored the value in textually analysing a variety of paratexts for the Harry Potter film franchise, since they shed light on the ideas and themes that are emphasised to audiences before, during and long after the films have had their cinema run. My particular focus was to look for ideas and themes that may shape conceptions of British national identity.

I was very grateful for the questions that I received which I will consider as I continue to work on this project:

• While the casting process for Harry, Ron and Hermione in the films was a rather exclusive affair that called for children who looked like the existing illustrations of the [white] characters, the more recent casting of black actress, Noma Dumezweni, as adult Hermione in the stage play prompted Rowling to state that the books do not mention this character's ethnicity and that there is no reason why she should be white. What does this mean in terms of the films' approach to representing ideas on 'Britishness' and Rowling's input throughout the franchise's history?
• At what point do the paratexts (such as the theme park, the studio tour, Platform 9 3/4s) become the main text and the films the paratexts? Have people visited these sites without seeing the films?

The theme of the conference, Anchoring New Cinema History, invited presentations on a variety of different methodologies for research, such as: collecting audience memories, analysing the programming for a particular set of cinemas throughout a specific time period, utilising DVD rental data to determine audience preferences. Wider questions were also raised throughout, such as what is contemporary cinema history and how do we study it?

Conference participants

BAFTSS Conference 2019

In April I was very pleased to be able to speak about my research at the annual conference for the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies. The 3 day event took place at the University of Birmingham and I was able to attend presentations covering a wide range of research topics, from the troubling representation of male rape on screen to the intersectionality of race, gender and class in French banlieue films.

My presentation on Harry Potter film paratexts and representations of Britishness (click here for abstract) was followed by a really interesting discussion in which the following questions were raised:

How have paratexts such as Platform 9 3/4s evolved beyond the original film texts? What ideas about Britishness have they added/amended?
What more could I find out about Platform 9 3/4s' part in the redevelopment of Kings Cross Station?

I am very grateful for the encouraging feedback I received on my presentation and I am currently implementing the suggestions made.

Blog post on the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum website

The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter has been an invaluable resource for my research, holding ephemera for the James Bond and Harry Potter film series as well a huge range of materials related to the moving image in Britain. Last year I was very grateful to receive a visiting researcher stipend to fund my trips to the museum. A blog post on the outcome of these trips has now been published on the museum's website: http://www.bdcmuseum.org.uk/news/harry-potter-and-the-representation-of-british-culture-a-paratextual-analysis/

#PGRTakeover

Yesterday it was my turn to run the Bristol Doctoral College's Instagram account as part of their #PGRtakeover series. This was an opportunity to answer that often asked question: what does a PhD student actually do? Of course it does depend on discipline, mode of attendance and proximity to campus. I used my #PGRtakeover to demonstrate some of the things I have learnt to incorporate into my day in order to maintain good mental health and wellbeing, since PhD life can come with many pressures and feelings of isolation.