Biography
I am a graduate of University College Cork, where I also completed a MA degree in French on the work of Roland Barthes, one of the key French literary theorists of the late twentieth century. I subsequently completed a DPhil in French at Balliol College, University of Oxford. My DPhil focused on Roland Barthes's critical writing, examining his account of the role of the critic and investigating the recurring concerns to be found within his own critical texts in the early and middle stages of his career. I was particularly interested in tracing the evolution of Barthes's theories of writing and interpretation which characterise the later period of his work, and arguing the value of his earlier material in understanding these themes. Barthes's work continues to be my principal area of research, and I have published a number of articles arising from the areas of interest which emerged during my doctoral studies. My long term project is a monograph on time in Barthes's work, and I also have an interest in the organisation of space as it features in his thought. I have been involved in the editing and presentation of some of Barthes's previously unpublished seminar notes discovered in his archive, which now resides in the Bibliotheque Nationale.On completing my DPhil at Balliol College, I spent some time tutoring in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature at that college, as well as occupying the college post of Deputy Tutor for Undergraduate Admissions, and working for Oxford University's Admissions Information Office. I took up my position as lecturer in the Department of French at UCC in 2012. I teach on a broad range of subjects, including nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, contemporary French fiction and film, bande dessinée, twentieth-century French politics and society and French sociology. I hold the position of second year convenor within the Department and have been invited to join a panel of editors for a new Barthes studies journal to be launched in 2014-2015.
Research Interests
My research interests focus on French critical theory and on modern and contemporary French literature and film. I am particularly interested in questions of space, of time - duration, movement, and stasis - and of the image. Publications
Edited Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2011) | Manon Mathias, Maria O' Sullivan, Ruth Vorstman (Ed.). (2011) Display and Disguise. Bern: Peter Lang AG. [Details] |
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2013) | 'Review of The Cambridge History of French Literature' Maria O'Sullivan (2013) 'Review of The Cambridge History of French Literature'. French Studies, 67 (4):583-584 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2014) | 'Review of Roland Barthes at the Collège de France, by Lucy O'Meara, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2012' Maria O'Sullivan (2014) 'Review of Roland Barthes at the Collège de France, by Lucy O'Meara, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2012'. French Studies, 69 (2) [Details] | |
| (2014) | ''Decelerated, Interrupted and Suspended Temporalities in the work of Roland Barthes'' Maria O'Sullivan (2014) ''Decelerated, Interrupted and Suspended Temporalities in the work of Roland Barthes''. The Irish Journal of French Studies, 'Deceleration' (no. 14) [Details] | |
| (2014) | '‘La genèse du paragrammatisme de Roland Barthes’' Maria O'Sullivan (2014) '‘La genèse du paragrammatisme de Roland Barthes’'. Genesis, no. 39 [Details] |
Other Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2012) | 'Barthes, Art et Emotion' Maria O' Sullivan (2012) 'Barthes, Art et Emotion' Modernités, . [Details] | |
| (2013) | 'Review of Women Readers in French Painting 1870-1890: A Space for the Imagination' Maria O'Sullivan (2013) 'Review of Women Readers in French Painting 1870-1890: A Space for the Imagination' Balliol College Annual Record 2013, :74-77. [Details] |
Book Reviews
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2013) | The Cambridge History of French Literature. O'Sullivan, M (2013) The Cambridge History of French Literature. Book Reviews [DOI] [Details] |
Online Database
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2013) | 'La Mort de l'Auteur'. O' Sullivan, Maria (2013) 'La Mort de l'Auteur'. Online Database [DOI] [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Vice Chancellor's Award | University of Oxford | |
| 2009 | Zaharoff Fund Travel Grant | Modern Languages Faculty, University of Oxford | |
| 2008 | Balliol College Project Grant | Balliol College, University of Oxford | |
| 2006 | Zaharoff Studentship | Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Oxford | |
| 2004 | Runner-up in R.H.Gapper Undergraduate Essay Prize | Journal of French Studies | |
| 2001 | Dr H.H.Steward Scholarship | NUI | |
| 2001 | Edward and Matilda Ryan Scholarship | UCC | |
| 2001 | Joseph G Healy Memorial Prize | UCC |
Conference Contributions
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2012) | Deceleration. Annual conference of ADEFFI ((Association des Etudes Francaises et Francophones d'Irlande), Maria O' Sullivan (2012) 'Decelerated, Interrupted and Suspended Temporalities in the work of Roland Barthes'. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Deceleration. Annual conference of ADEFFI ((Association des Etudes Francaises et Francophones d'Irlande), NUI Galway , 19-OCT-12 - 21-OCT-12. [Details] | |
| (2012) | French Department Research Seminar series, University College Cork, Maria O' Sullivan (2012) 'Barthes, paragrammatisme and the discourse of history: editing Barthes's EPHE seminar of 1966-1967. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], French Department Research Seminar series, University College Cork, Universit College Cork , 23-FEB-12 - 23-OCT-12. [Details] | |
| (2012) | Roland Barthes research seminar, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, Maria O' Sullivan (2012) 'Barthes, le paragrammatisme et le discours de l'histoire'. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], Roland Barthes research seminar, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, École Normale Supérieure, Paris , 21-JAN-12 - 21-JAN-12. [Details] | |
| (2011) | Society for French Studies Annual Conference, Maria O' Sullivan (2011) 'Le discours de l'histoire: Derrida, Kristeva and writing readers'. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Society for French Studies Annual Conference, Queen Mary, University of London , 15-JUL-11 - 17-JUL-11. [Details] | |
| (2011) | Literary theory reading group, Oxford, Maria O' Sullivan (2011) presentation on Roland Barthes's Critique et vérité. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], Literary theory reading group, Oxford, St Edmund Hall College, University of Oxford , 15-JUN-11 - 15-JUN-11. [Details] | |
| (2009) | French postgraduate seminar series, Oxford, Maria O' Sullivan (2009) ‘Analysis and opacity in Roland Barthes’s Nouveaux essais critiques’. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], French postgraduate seminar series, Oxford, All Souls College, University of Oxford , 20-OCT-09 - 20-OCT-09. [Details] | |
| (2008) | French-Russian Literary Theory seminar, Oxford, Maria O' Sullivan, Nariman Skakov (University College, University of Oxford) (2008) ‘Translation of Literary Terms: Chinese Whispers or Direct Transposition?’. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], French-Russian Literary Theory seminar, Oxford, New College, University of Oxford , 13-NOV-08 - 13-NOV-08. [Details] | |
| (2008) | French postgraduate seminar series, Oxford, Maria O' Sullivan (2008) ‘The critical intertext of Critique et vérité (1966) in relation to self-reflexive critical writing’. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], French postgraduate seminar series, Oxford, All Souls College, University of Oxford , 06-FEB-08 - 06-FEB-08. [Details] | |
| (2007) | Barthes Symposium, Helsinki, Maria O' Sullivan (2007) ‘The critical intertext of Critique et vérité (1966) in relation to self-reflexive critical writing’. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], Barthes Symposium, Helsinki, University of Helsinki , 14-DEC-07 - 16-DEC-07. [Details] | |
| (2007) | French Studies in Scotland, ‘Voices’ Conference, Maria O' Sullivan (2007) ‘Reader and author functions in Barthes and Bakhtin’. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], French Studies in Scotland, ‘Voices’ Conference, The Burn, Scotland , 09-NOV-07 - 11-NOV-07. [Details] | |
| (2007) | Bakhtin seminar series, Oxford, Maria O' Sullivan (2007) ‘Bakhtin-Barthes: A Theoretical Dialogue’. [Invited Seminars/Guest Lectures], Bakhtin seminar series, Oxford, New College, University of Oxford , 13-MAR-07 - 13-MAR-07. [Details] | |
| (2006) | ADEFFI (Association des Etudes Francaises et Francophones d'Irlande) conference, Maria O' Sullivan (2006) ‘De l’autre côté du miroir: la perception et le mouvement dans Roland Barthes par lui-même’. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], ADEFFI (Association des Etudes Francaises et Francophones d'Irlande) conference, College des Irlandais, Paris , 22-SEP-06 - 24-SEP-06. [Details] |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
My teaching interests include contemporary French literature and film, with a particular emphasis on affective states (guilt, shame) explored through these media; questions of intertextuality and irony in French literary texts from diverse periods; bande dessiné and French politics and society in the post-war period.Modules Taught
| Term (ID)) | Title | Link | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | French Society and Institutions | FR2901 | French Society and Institutions | |
| 2015 | Literary Studies: Modern French Fiction | FR4308 | Literary Studies: Modern French Fiction |
Contact details
- Maria O'Sullivan
Lecturer - maria.osullivan@ucc.ie
- French
University College Cork
Cork
Ireland - +353-21-490-3000