Emma Wilson
Encyclopedia
Emma Wilson is a British
academic and writer, specializing in French literature and cinema. She is Professor of French Literature and the Visual Arts at the University of Cambridge
and a fellow of Corpus Christi College
.
. She was a scholarship student at Surbiton High School
and then studied French and Latin as an undergraduate at Cambridge. She then stayed on to do a PhD
in the French department. Her thesis was entitled The pain of the pleasure of the text: Tournier, reading and sexuality. Wilson then got a post as a university lecturer in Cambridge.
and Krzysztof Kieslowski
as well as specific work on writers such as Marcel Proust
, Marguerite Duras
, Hélène Cixous
and Michel Tournier
. As well as her contribution to these author fields, however, Wilson's writing has applications to critical theory
. In her 1996 work, Sexuality and the Reading Encounter, Wilson makes a contribution to reader response theory in relation to feminism
and queer theory
. She argues for the potential for change in the reader's identity through reading. The encounter between reader and text, she says, depends "not on pre-constructed identities, but on the very performance of identity in the process of reading." Wilson is particularly interested in the way that readers position themselves in relation to representations of desiring relations.
Wilson's 2003 study of the cinematic treatment of missing children, Cinema’s Missing Children, was described as "a book rich in academic and cultural backstory".
with which Cambridge now has a very successful ERASMUS programme
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
academic and writer, specializing in French literature and cinema. She is Professor of French Literature and the Visual Arts at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and a fellow of Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
.
Life and Education
Emma Wilson is the daughter of novelist Jacqueline WilsonJacqueline Wilson
Dame Jacqueline Wilson, DBE, FRSL is an award-winning English author, known for her vast and diverse work in children's literature. Her novels have been adapted numerous times for television, and commonly deal with such challenging themes as adoption, divorce and mental illness...
. She was a scholarship student at Surbiton High School
Surbiton High School
Surbiton High School is a private school in Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It was founded in 1884 by a group of Anglican clergymen who instituted the Church Schools Company...
and then studied French and Latin as an undergraduate at Cambridge. She then stayed on to do a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in the French department. Her thesis was entitled The pain of the pleasure of the text: Tournier, reading and sexuality. Wilson then got a post as a university lecturer in Cambridge.
Research
As a researcher, Wilson is author of six books and over twenty articles published in scholarly journals in the field of modern languages and film. Her published work includes book studies of Alain ResnaisAlain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
and Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
as well as specific work on writers such as Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
, Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...
, Hélène Cixous
Hélène Cixous
Hélène Cixous is a professor, French feminist writer, poet, playwright, philosopher, literary critic and rhetorician. She holds honorary degrees from Queen's University and the University of Alberta in Canada; University College Dublin in Ireland; the University of York and University College...
and Michel Tournier
Michel Tournier
Michel Tournier is a French writer.His works are highly considered and have won important awards such as the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1967 for Friday, or, The Other Island and the Prix Goncourt for The Erl-King in 1970...
. As well as her contribution to these author fields, however, Wilson's writing has applications to critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
. In her 1996 work, Sexuality and the Reading Encounter, Wilson makes a contribution to reader response theory in relation to feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and queer theory
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
. She argues for the potential for change in the reader's identity through reading. The encounter between reader and text, she says, depends "not on pre-constructed identities, but on the very performance of identity in the process of reading." Wilson is particularly interested in the way that readers position themselves in relation to representations of desiring relations.
Wilson's 2003 study of the cinematic treatment of missing children, Cinema’s Missing Children, was described as "a book rich in academic and cultural backstory".
Contribution to the dissemination of French Culture
On 6 May 2009 Wilson was awarded an Ordre des Palmes Académiques Chevalier (knight) medal by the UK French Ambassador. This prestigious award is awarded by the French government to academics and educators. It recognises Wilson's sustained contribution to the dissemination of French culture and to education. As well as her active contribution to the teaching and research of her department, Wilson has set up a number of links between Cambridge University and French institutions such as the École Normale Supérieure-Lettres et Sciences humaines in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
with which Cambridge now has a very successful ERASMUS programme
Erasmus programme
The Erasmus Programme , a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union student exchange programme established in 1987...
.
Published work
- Atom Egoyan (Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2009) ISBN 9780252076206
- Alain Resnais (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006) ISBN 9780719064067
- Cinema's Missing Children (Wallflower, 2003)
- Memory and Survival: The French Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski (Oxford: Legenda, 2000)
- French Cinema since 1950: Personal Histories (Duckworth, 1999) ISBN 0715628496
- Sexuality and the Reading Encounter: Identity and Desire in Proust, Duras, Cixous and Tournier (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) ISBN 0198158858
- (editor) Sexuality and Masquerade: The Dedalus Book of Sexual Ambiguity (Dedalus, 1996)
Further reading
- Kate Ince, Review of Sexuality and the Reading Encounter: Identity and Desire in Proust, Duras, Tournier and Cixous, The Modern Language Review Vol. 92, No. 3 (July 1997), pp. 741–742.
- Michael Worton, Review of Sexuality and the Reading Encounter: Identity and Desire in Proust, Duras, Cixous and Toumier, French StudiesFrench StudiesFrench Studies is a United Kingdom-based journal published by Oxford University Press for the Society for French Studies.It was founded in 1947 and publishes articles on all periods of French and francophone literature and culture as well as book reviews. In addition to the printed copy, the...
52, 1998; pp. 222–223. - Martha Noel Evans, Review of Sexuality and the Reading Encounter, Modern Philology 96 no.2 (1998), p. 284.
- Review of Cinema's Missing Children by James Oliphant for PopMatters.
- Review of Cinema's Missing Children by Antonio Pasolini for Kamera.co.uk.
- 'Kinds of Blue': Review of Cinema's Missing Children by Richard Armstrong for Audience Magazine, 2005.
- Phil Powrie 'Review: Memory and Survival: The French Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski', French Studies 56, Apr 2002; pp. 288–289.
- Phil Powrie, 'Review of French Cinema Since 1950: Personal Histories', French Studies 54, 2000 pp. 550–551.