Laura J. Lee Kemp
Research:
My doctoral thesis is concerned with narrative film and screen media produced since 2000, which features the Spanish Civil War or the early Franco period. Within this framework I am investigating the development and expression of a ‘cultural trauma narrative’. Through an analysis of the efficacy of realist aesthetics in representing trauma, an investigation into the conversion of personal suffering into collective victimisation and a re-examination of the representation of women and children, I explore the role of popular cinema in affecting Spain’s social attitude towards cultural trauma and victimhood.
This project offers an alternative approach to the topics of trauma and historical memory, arguing against the prevalent trend to conflate the reparative effects of these two discursive fields. Furthermore, by applying the sociological concept of Jeffrey Alexander’s ‘cultural trauma’ to Spanish screen media, this research offers a timely examination of the symbiosis between popular culture and social attitudes towards the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist repression.
Conference Papers:
- ‘A feminist re-interpretation of the figure of La Costurera in El tiempo entre costuras.’ (Women In Spanish and Portuguese Studies, University of Cork, November 2014.)
Conference Posters:
- The Wolfson College Research Event, May 2014
- ‘75 Years since the Spanish Civil War: Perspectives from the 21st Century.’ University of Sheffield, March 2014
Teaching:
- SPA2 Translation into English supervisions for beginners
- SPB2 Translation into English classes to first and 2nd year students.
