Francesca Young Kaufman
Thesis title: Contested Representation: an historical reassessment of the work of art filmmakers in the PRC, 1989-2001
PhD supervisors:
Background
Francesca grew up in the south west of England and moved to Scotland for university in 2002. Struggling to decide between attending art school or university, she chose to focus her studies on history but explore visual culture as much as possible. After graduating with a BA Hons in History from the University of Stirling she was awarded a scholarship to stay on and complete a Masters by Research split between the history and film studies departments. She then worked in communications in the charity sector for three years before returning to postgraduate study at the University of Edinburgh in 2010. Working on her PhD part-time, she continued to develop the interdisciplinary method which had emerged from her MRes research into Chinese filmmaking in the 1980s. Concentrating on the post-1989 era, Francesca's PhD explored the role of alternative historical practice in the cinematic innovations which emerged in Chinese films in the 1990s. Her ongoing research draws from cultural history approaches to representation and considers memory and memorialisation as key themes in late twentieth century Chinese visual culture.