Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages Raised Faculty Building 海角社区 Sidgwick Avenue 海角社区 CB3 9DA United Kingdom
Nicholas White is a specialist in nineteenth-century French literature, with a particular interest in the issues of war, friendship, love, marriage, and the family, and in the methods of cultural and literary history. 听
Having completed his undergraduate degree and PhD in 海角社区, Nicholas White took up a Faculty post in London University in 1993. In 2002 he returned to 海角社区 to take up a Faculty post in 19th century French literature, at which point he became a Fellow of Emmanuel College. From 2008 until 2011, he was Chair of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, responsible for steering policy in teaching and research for 海角社区鈥檚 largest Arts & Humanities Faculty. As such, he chaired the Faculty Board and its Degree Committee, and represented the Faculty on the Council of the School of Arts and Humanities. From 2018 to 2020 he was听Director of the 海角社区 Master's programme (M.Phil.) in European, Latin American and Comparative Literatures and Culture.
The Regent House of the University (its legislative body) delegates certain functions to special committees, termed "syndicates", whose members are known as "the syndics" of that particular institution. Nicholas White was a Syndic of the University Library from 2015 until 2021, chairing the Sub-Syndicate of Arts and Humanities Libraries and the University's Participation Data Advisory Group. He was also a founding member of the steering committee of the听听(CCTL). From 2010 to 2017 he served as a Syndic of 海角社区 Assessment (Europe's largest educational assessment agency) and sat on the Board of Directors of OCR (Oxford 海角社区 and RSA Examinations).
Until 2015 he held three major roles in Emmanuel College: Admissions Tutor for Arts (since 2007), Director of Studies in Modern and Medieval Languages (since 2003), and a Tutor to students in other subjects (since 2004).听听
Professor White听welcomes inquiries from potential MPhil and PhD students听with research interests relevant to his听interests.
Nicholas White is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a national body which aims to 鈥渟hare effective teaching practices in order to provide the best possible learning experience for all students鈥�. In the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages & Linguistics, he has convened undergraduate (Fr5, Fr11) and MPhil papers in 19th century French literature, and has lectured on writers such as Balzac, Stendhal, Nerval, Sand, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Rimbaud, Vall猫s, Maupassant, Anatole France, and Zola, and a range of historical topics, from the Revolution to the Dreyfus Affair.
He has supervised PhD theses on 鈥淭he Pursuit of the Sublime in Post-Romantic France鈥�, 鈥淎 Literary and Cultural History of Ballooning in France 1783-1936鈥�, 鈥淣arratives of Inheritance in Nineteenth-Century France鈥�, "Work and Leisure in Late Nineteenth-Century French Literature and Visual Culture", "Fictions of the Press in Nineteenth-Century France", "Aesthetics in Ruins: Parisian Writing, Photography and Art, 1851-1892", and "Conspiracy in Balzac and Sand鈥檚 July Monarchy Fiction"; and co-supervised a PhD on "The Stakes of Mimesis: E.T.A. Hoffmann and Honor茅 de Balzac". He has supervised PhDs by scholars such as听,听,听, Alexandra Tranca and听. In July 2019 Emmanuel College and the Robert Bacon Fund of Harvard University sponsored a symposium at Reid Hall in Paris, organized by Rebecca Sugden and Madeleine Wolf, on "New Directions" in the teaching of nineteenth-century French culture which involved the participation of many of the former students of Nick White and听听(贬补谤惫补谤诲).
Nicholas White鈥檚 research focuses on 19th century French literature, and he coordinates work in this field in 海角社区. He is particularly interested in the issues of war, friendship, love, marriage, and the family, and in the methods of cultural and literary history. In addition to writing over fifty journal articles and book chapters, nearly one hundred talks and presentations, and reviews of more than one hundred books, he has authored or edited eleven book-length publications.
He is now engaged on a book project on the 'war before the First World War': in other words, the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune (1870-71). This has been supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. His work on听French war literature and painting before 1914听focuses on fiction, in particular Zola's 1892 novel听La听顿茅产芒肠濒别, as well as art by the likes of Neuville and Detaille.听Under the EU's Horizon2020 scheme, he has worked with听Dr Marion Glamaud-Carbonnier听on a research project (2020-23) on听The Family at War in French Culture, 1870-1914, under the听Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions听scheme. He has听given invited lectures and papers on representations of 1870-71 at Harvard, Yale, Penn, NYU, ENS Paris, the Sorbonne and Sorbonne-Nouvelle, ENS Lyon, and Oxford.
He has also worked with听Irene Fabry-Tehranchi of听the 海角社区 University Library on the digitization of its collection of听illustrated plates entitled听.听In 2021 he co-produced a short听on these caricatures and in 2022 co-curated an听for the University Library.
His earlier publications focused on the fictional representation of personal and social relations in the early and middle decades of the French Third Republic (from the Franco-Prussian War until World War One). As well as writing books on听听(1999) and听听(2012), he has edited the translations of two novels -- Zola鈥檚听尝鈥橝蝉蝉辞尘尘辞颈谤听and Huysmans鈥檚听A Rebours听(winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize) -- and co-edited three books of essays on听听(1997),听听(2005), and听听(2007).
He has also edited three journal special numbers, one in France, and two in the US, starting with a special double number on Zola for the New York journal,听Romanic Review听(2011). He was also the principal investigator of the听海角社区-Paris Sciences & Lettres network听on听Zola au pluriel, co-ordinating (with Claire White) symposia in the summer of 2015 at Emmanuel College and the ENS rue d'Ulm, Paris (which brought into collaboration the 海角社区 group and the Zola ITEM seminar from Paris). This culminated in a special number of the leading French journal in the field,听Les Cahiers naturalistes,听no. 91 (2017).
His 2011 piece in听Romanic Review听on听Pot-Bouille听and听Au Bonheur des dames听sketched out a new project on the ways in which French men and women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries interact in public space in a manner that is not necessarily romantic or sexual (in other words what we might call Third Republic "heterosociability"). In this vein, he was the principal investigator from 2016-18 of the听AHRC-sponsored Research Network听on听The Art of Friendship in France, from 1789 to 1914, which he co-ordinated with Andrew Counter. The Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition听听(3 October 2017 to 14 January 2018), curated by Jane Munro, was related to this project. This project led to two outputs: a special number (ed. with A. Counter) of fourteen new essays in听; and (with Rebecca Sugden) a digital teaching resource for schools centred around Degas's painting听Au caf茅.
He founded the听海角社区 Research Seminar on Nineteenth-Century France, which Dr Rebecca Sugden has directed since 2020.听听
He has published in article and chapter format on a wide range of male and female听authors听from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including 脡mile Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Anatole France, J.-K. Huysmans, Colette, Marcelle Tinayre, Marie-Anne de Bovet, Jules Lema卯tre, Andr茅 L茅o (aka Mme de Champseix), Camille Pert, Claire Vautier, Paul Bourget, Lucien Descaves, L茅on Hennique, 脡douard Rod, Alphonse Daudet, Janvier & Ballot, and Armand Charpentier. He has also dabbled in other domains such as the relationship between literature and Grand Opera.
He was one of the founding editors of听听(the journal of the听, the UK and Irish professional body in nineteenth-century French studies), and is now a member of their Editorial Board. He was from 2013 to 2016 the nineteenth-century literature reviews editor of听, an organization based in North America for academics working on French history and culture that includes over 4000 subscribers from some 40 nations. He is on the advisory board of three major North American journals in the field,听,听听and听; and is听correspondant britannique听for the French journal听. He has also spoken at Leicester City Football Club, Manchester United Football Club, Merchant Taylors鈥� Hall London, and Somerset House; written for the Globe Theatre; consulted for the Folio Society (French Short Stories;听Adventures of the Three Musketeers); and translated for the City of London Sinfonia, and, most frequently, the Philharmonia Orchestra. For a couple of decades from the late 1990s on, he wrote听from time to time for the听Times Literary Supplement.
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1. Book-length projects听听
(xi) Lendemains de d茅faite: 1870-1871 dans l鈥檌maginaire de la IIIe R茅publique, ed. with Marion Glaumaud-Carbonnier听 (Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon, 2024), 236 pp.听
(x) Guest-edited special number with A. Counter on 鈥淭he Art of Friendship in France, from the Revolution to the Great War鈥� for Romanic Review,110.1-4 (2019), 285 pp.听
(ix) Guest-edited special number with C. White on 鈥淶ola au pluriel鈥� for Les Cahiers 听naturalistes, 91 (2017), 134 pp.听听听
(viii) Author, French Divorce Fiction from the Revolution to the First World War (Oxford: Legenda, 2012), x + 200 pp.听
(vii) Guest-edited special double number on Zola for Romanic Review, 103.1-2 (2012), 250 pp.听
(vi) After Intimacy: The Culture of Divorce in the West since 1789, ed. with Karl Leydecker (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2007), 295 pp.听
(v) Currencies: Fiscal fortunes and Cultural Capital in Nineteenth-Century France, ed. with S. Capitanio, L. Downing, P. Rowe (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2005), 211 pp.听
(iv) Author, The Family in Crisis in Late Nineteenth-Century French Fiction (海角社区 University Press, 1999), xii + 214 pp. [paperback 2006]听
(iii) Edition of J-K Huysmans, A Rebours (Oxford University Press, 1998), xxxiv + 227 pp. Winner of the 1999 Scott Moncrieff Prize.听听
(ii) Scarlet Letters: Fictions of Adultery from Antiquity to the 1990s, ed. with Naomi Segal (Macmillan, 1997), xi + 232 pp.听
听(i) Edition of Emile Zola, 尝鈥橝蝉蝉辞尘尘辞颈谤 (Everyman, 1995), xv + 437 pp.听
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2.听听听听听 Book-chapters & journal articles听
(lvii) 鈥樎� La fougue de commencement 禄 : entre 茅bauche et d茅bauche鈥�, forthcoming in Les听Cahiers naturalistes, 98 (2024), pp. 147-58 (12 pages)听
(lvi) 鈥楲鈥檈nstrasbourgeoisement de la m茅moire nationale鈥�:听 une statue alsacienne sur la place de la Concorde鈥�, in Lendemains de d茅faite (2024; see above), pp. 129-40 (12)听听
(lv)听听听 鈥楧e Sedan 脿 Rome : une t茅tralogie zolienne des reliques鈥�, forthcoming in Les Cahiers naturalistes, 97 (2023), pp.127-49. (23)听
(liv)听听 鈥楴apol茅on III, le 芦 fant么me 禄 de La 顿茅产芒肠濒别鈥�, Les Cahiers naturalistes, 96 (2022), pp. 33-49 (17)听
(liii)听听 鈥榋ola鈥檚 鈥渃hamp limit茅 de la r茅alisation鈥�: La 顿茅产芒肠濒别 and the Commune鈥�, Nineteenth- Century French Studies, 49.3-4 (2021), pp. 477-98 (22)听
(lii)听听听 鈥楲a 顿茅产芒肠濒别 et la voix de la nation鈥�, Les Cahiers naturalistes, 95 (2021), pp. 265-73 (9)听
(li)听听听听 鈥楶hil茅mon (1913) de Lucien Descaves et la fiction du rapatriement :听une communaut茅 de revenants鈥�, Autour de Vall猫s, 50 (2020), pp. 205-33. (19)听
(l)听听听听听 鈥楲鈥檃ire anglophone : cinq contextes de lecture鈥�, Les Cahiers naturalistes, 94 (2020), pp. 261-65. (5)听
(xlviii + ix) 鈥業ntroduction: The Soul鈥檚 Sentiment: Friendship in Nineteenth-Century France鈥� (with A. Counter), 1-14, and 鈥楤etween Men and Women: Making Friends in Guy de Maupassant鈥檚 Bel-Ami鈥�, in Special Number of Romanic Review, 203-21 (see 听above). (35)听听
(xlvii) 鈥樎� La d茅b芒cle de la d茅b芒cle 禄 : esth茅tique et id茅ologie dans la r茅ception de la 听conclusion historique des Rougon-Macquart鈥�, in Olivier Lumbroso, Jean-S茅bastien听Macke, Jean-Michel Pottier (eds.), M茅langes pour Alain Pag猫s (Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2019), pp. 223-32. (10)听
(xlvi) 鈥楽tyle Wars: The Uniform and the Polymorphous in La 顿茅产芒肠濒别鈥�, in H. Brevik-Zender听(ed.), Fashion, Modernity and Materiality in France (Albany: State University of New听York Press, 2018), pp. 157-78. (22)听
(xlv)听 鈥楪ender Difference and Cultural Labour in French Fiction from Zola to Colette鈥�, in M.听Waithe and C. White (eds.), The Labour of Literature in Britain and France, 1830 - 1910 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), pp. 221-36 (16)听
(xliv)听 鈥楲a 顿茅产芒肠濒别 d鈥櫭塵ile Zola : une fiction r茅publicaine de la fin du Second听听Empire鈥�, Autour de Vall猫s, 47 (2017), 227-38 (12)听
(xliii) 鈥樷�楲鈥檈nclume toujours chaude鈥�: 脡mile Zola鈥檚 Newspaper Trilogy鈥�, Dix-Neuf 21.4 (2017), 10-37 (28)听听听
(xlii) 鈥榋ola and the Physical Geography of War鈥�, Dix-Neuf 21.2-3 (2017), 10-29 (20)听
(xl + xli) 鈥楢vant-propos鈥� (with C. White), pp. 5-10, and 鈥楲鈥檋omos et l鈥檋eteros des Rougon- Macquart鈥�, pp. 11-24, in Special Number of Les Cahiers naturalistes (see above) (20)听
(xxxix) 鈥楾he Fog of War: Impressionism and Zola Revisited鈥�, in I. James and E.听听Wilson, Lucidity: Essays in Honour of Alison Finch (Oxford: Legenda, 2016), pp. 86- 96 (11)听
(xxxviiii)鈥楲a relecture de l鈥檋istoire鈥�, in A. Pag猫s and P. Glaudes (eds.), Relire 鈥淟a Fortune des Rougon鈥� (Paris: Garnier, 2015), pp. 299-309 (11)听
(xxxvii) Foreward to Susie Hennessy, on Consumption, Domesticity and the Female Body in Emile Zola鈥檚 Fiction (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2015), pp.i-vi (6)听
(xxxvi) 鈥楲e papier m芒ch茅 dans L鈥橝rgent鈥�, Les Cahiers naturalistes 87 (2013), 151-68 (18)听
(xxxv) 鈥業ntroduction: Zola, Cultural Historian avant la lettre?鈥�, pp.295-303, and 鈥楾he Lost Heroine of Zola鈥檚 Octave Mouret Novels鈥�, pp.369-390, in Special Number of Romanic Review (see above) (31)听
(xxxiv) 鈥楩idelity and Invention: Jules Lema卯tre and Action fran莽aise Revisit La Princesse de Cl猫ves鈥�, in N. Hammond and M. Moriarty, Evocations of Eloquence: rhetoric, literature and religion in early modern France (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2012), pp.315-36 (22)听
(xxxiiii) 鈥楶ostface: 脡crire l鈥檋茅t茅ros鈥�, in F. Grenaudier-Klijn et al. (eds), 脡crire les 听hommes (Saint-Denis: Presses universitaires de Vincennes, 2012), pp.267-70 (4)听
(xxxii) 鈥楴aturalism鈥�, in W. Burgwinkle et al. (eds), The 海角社区 History of French 听Literature (海角社区: 海角社区 University Press, 2011), pp.522-30 (9)听
(xxxi) 鈥楾ransmission romanesque et transposition familiale 脿 la fin du XIXe si猫cle鈥�, in C. Chelebourg et al. (eds), H茅ritage, filiation, transmission: Configurations litt茅raires (XVIIIe-XXIe si猫cles) (Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2011), pp.87-98 (12)听
(xxx) 鈥楲a 顿茅产芒肠濒别 d鈥櫭塵ile Zola: une fraternit茅 d鈥檃rmes?鈥�, in C. Bernard et al. 听
(eds), Adelphiques: Soeurs et fr猫res dans la litt茅rature fran莽aise du XIXe si猫cle (2010), pp.253-66 (14)听
(xxix) 鈥業ntroduction鈥� in D. Holton (ed), 海角社区 in Athens (Athens: Periplous 2009), pp.7-9 (3)听
(xxviii) 鈥楳arriage, Identity and Epistemology in Third Republic Fiction鈥�, Dix-Neuf, 11.1听听(2008), 135-48 (14)听
(xxvii) 鈥楩amily histories and family plots鈥�, in G. Nelson (ed), The 海角社区 Companion to Zola(海角社区: 海角社区 University Press, 2007), pp.19-38 (20)听
(xxv + vi) 鈥業ntroduction: After Intimacy鈥�, pp.7-10, and 鈥楶arallel Lives and Novel Series: French Women鈥檚 Writing on Divorce from the Second Empire to the First World War鈥�, pp.57-91, in After Intimacy (see above) (39)听
(xxiv) 鈥楴arrative Closure and the Question of Divorce in Late-Nineteenth-Century Fiction鈥�, in S. Stephens (ed), Esquisses/脡bauches: Projects and Pre-Texts in Nineteenth-Century French Culture (New York: Peter Lang, 2007), pp.200-10 (11)听
(xxiii) 鈥業ntroduction鈥�, pp.7-12, in Currencies, with co-editors (see above) (6)听
(xxii) 鈥楪reen Eyes and Purple Prose: Late Nineteenth-Century French Divorce Literature鈥�, in R. Langford (ed), Depicting Desire. Gender, Sexuality and the Family in Nineteenth Century Europe: Literary and Artistic Perspectives (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2004), pp. 243- 57 (15)听
(xxi)听 Articles on Stendhal, Le Rouge et le Noir and George Sand in The Encyclopaedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, ed. C. Murray (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004) (2)听
(xx)听听 鈥楥omment 茅crire le roman du divorce? A propos de Rose et Ninette鈥�, in C. Chelebourg (ed), Alphonse Daudet: pluriel et singulier (Paris: Minard, 2003), pp. 139-54 (16)听
(xix)听 鈥楩ictions and librettos鈥�, in 海角社区 Companion to Grand Opera, ed. David Charlton (海角社区: 海角社区 University Press, 2003), pp. 43-57 (15)听
(xviii) 鈥楢nglo-Saxon Attitudes: The Shared Centenary of Zola and The Times Literary 听Supplement鈥�, preface to New Approaches to Zola, ed. H. Thompson (London: The Emile Zola Society, 2003), pp. 9-17 (9)听
听(xvii) 鈥楾he Name of the Divorc茅e: Janvier and Ballot鈥檚 Theatrical Critique, Mon Nom!鈥�, Romance Quarterly, 49 (2002), 215-27 (13)听
听(xvi) 鈥楶aternal Perspectives on Divorce in Alphonse Daudet鈥檚 Rose et Ninette鈥�, Nineteenth- Century French Studies, 30.1/2 (2001-2), 131-47 (17)听
(xv)听听 鈥楧ivorce and Political Scandal in Edouard Rod鈥檚 Michel Teissier Novels鈥�, Modern Language Review, 96 (2001), 667-78 (12)听
(xiv)听 鈥楲鈥櫭ヽonomie narrative du plaisir et de la politique: L鈥橝ccident de Monsieur H茅bert de L茅on Hennique鈥� in Relecture des 芦petits禄 naturalistes, ed. Colette Becker and Anne- Simone Dufief, coll. RITM (Universit茅 Paris-X, 2000), pp. 221-30 (10)听
(xiii)听 鈥楻elire la pr茅face d鈥橝 Rebours, ou revisiter le mus茅e de production culturelle鈥�, in Le texte pr茅faciel, ed. Laurence Kohn-Pireaux (Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 2000), pp.133- 41 (9)听
(xii)听听 鈥楧esignations and Destinations: The Carriage in French Naturalist Fiction鈥�, New听Readings, 4(1999), 51-60 (9)听
(xi)听听听 鈥楧ying for Flaubert: Two Naturalist Versions of the Death of the Subject鈥�, New Zealand Journal of French Studies, 18(1997), 20-29 (10)听
(x)听听听听 鈥楻econstructing the City in Zola鈥檚 Paris鈥�, Neophilologus, 81(1997), 201-14 (14)听
(viii + ix) 鈥楾he Present State of Affairs鈥�, pp.1-10, and 鈥楥arnal Knowledge in French Naturalist Fiction鈥�, pp.123-33, in Scarlet Letters (see above) (21)听
(vii)听听 鈥楢 Rebours et la 鈥淧r茅face 茅crite vingt ans apr猫s le roman鈥�: 茅coles, influences, 听intertextes鈥�, in Le Champ litt茅raire, Paris 1860-1900, eds. James Kearns and Keith Cameron (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996), pp. 105-12 (8)听
(vi)听听听 鈥楧ining out with L茅on Hennique鈥�, Essays in French Literature, 32-33 (1995-96), 41- 63 (23)听
(v)听听听听 鈥楩in-de-si猫cle Exchanges: Arthur Symons, Translator of Emile Zola鈥�, Emile Zola听听Society Bulletin, 12(1995), 11-22 (12)听
(iv)听听听 鈥楲e Docteur Pascal: entre l鈥檌nceste et l鈥欌�渋nn茅it茅鈥�, Cahiers naturalistes, 68(1994), 77- 88 (12)听
(iii)听听听 鈥楾he Work in Art: Zola, C茅zanne and Cabaner鈥�, Emile Zola Society Bulletin, 7(1994), 3- 8 (5)听
(ii)听听听听 鈥楴arcissism, Reading and History: Freud, Huysmans and Other Europeans鈥�, Paragraph, 16 (1993), 261-73 (13)听
(i)听听听听听 鈥榋ola and the Rites of Paternity: The Dedications of Le Docteur Pascal鈥�, French Studies Bulletin, 47(1993), 12-14 (3)听
Over 100 book reviews for the following publications: Times Literary Supplement; Revue d鈥檋istoire litt茅raire de la France; Modern and Contemporary France; Modern Language Review; Nineteenth-Century French Studies; Romance Quarterly; French Studies; European Review of History/ Revue europ茅enne d鈥檋istoire; The Journal of European Studies; H-France; Young Minds.听听听
