Juliet Conway

Thesis title: The figure of the flirt in American fiction from 1878-1928

Biography

Background

Academic History:

Juliet began her PhD in September 2016, after having graduated from The University of Edinburgh with an MScR (distinction)in 2016 and a first class MA (Hons) in 2014.

 

 

Research summary

Juliet's research project focuses on the depiction of the flirt figure in American fiction from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth. Her research uses the elusive & chameleon like figure of the flirt as a lens to explore representations of femininity and sexuality in a period where traditional models of womanhood were becoming increasingly unstable. She is particularly interested in how the flirt relates to the angel/whore dichotomy commonly represented in Victorian fiction & how she functions as a device by which authors may discreetly challenge patriarchal gender models without overtly discussing the taboo subjects of female sexuality, power or adultery.

Juliet is a postgraduate associate of The Scottish Centre for Victorian and Neo Victorian Studies.

Current project grants

AHRC DTP Studentship 2016-2019.

Past project grants

IPS Grant: I was awarded an AHRC International Placement Scheme grant to fund three months research work at The Library of Congress in Washington DC from February to April 2019.

Spring Academy Bursary: In January 2018 I was selected as one of 20 participants out of 115 applicants to attend ‘Spring Academy’ a week long conference and training event for international graduate students in the field of American Literature funded by The Heidelberg Center for American Studies.

SDF Award: In May 2017 I was awarded three months funding from the Student Development fund through the Scottish Graduate School in order to conduct archival research at Firestone Library in Princeton, New Jersey.

LLC Master’s Bursary (2014)

Conference details

  • 'The descendents of Daisy Miller: Edith Wharton and the development of the flirt'.  American Literature Association Annual Conference, Boston, May 2017.

  • ‘Echoes of Lily Bart in Edith Wharton’s The Reef’.  LLC Works in Progress Series. Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, October 2017.

  • ‘Disorientated and Disillusioned: The Flirt as an Emblem of the Lost Generation’ Heidelberg Spring Academy Conference, Heidelberg, March 2018.

  • ‘To hell with women anyway’: the curse of fickle femininity in The Sun Also Rises’ . ‘Hemingway in Paris’ (Ernest Hemingway Society Conference), Paris, July 2018.

  • “I seem to be quite depressed this morning”: The Ditzy Facade of Female Trauma in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.’ The triennial SSAWW conference (Society of the study of American women writers), Denver, November 2018.

  • 'Learning How Not to Flirt: warnings against flirtatiousness in didactic fiction'. The Library of Congress WIP series. Washington DC, April 2019.

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