Maxime Geervliet
Thesis title: The Self on Trial: Shame and Confession in the Autobiographical Writing of Rachel Cusk, Ghayath Almadhoun, and Karl Ove Knausgaard
PhD supervisors:
Background
Maxime is a current PhD student in Comparative Literature and a Tutor in English Literature and Film Studies. She holds an MSc in Comparative Literature from the University of Edinburgh, as well as a BA in Film and Literary Sciences from the University of Leiden. During her Undergraduate degree, Maxime specialised in both Film and Literary Sciences.
Maxime worked as a freelance writer and journalist, alongside her studies, for two years before coming to Edinburgh.
Qualifications
PhD Comparative Literature, The University of Edinburgh (2020-)
Provisional Thesis Title: "The Self on Trial: Shame and Confession in the Autobiographical Writing of Ghayath Almadhoun, Rachel Cusk and Karl Ove Knausgaard". Thesis supervised by Dr Simon Cooke and Dr Claire Boyle.
MSc Comparative Literature, the University of Edinburgh (2019-2020)
MSc Dissertation: Comparative Ecocritical Analysis of Norwegian Literature and Television
BA Film - and Literary Sciences, The University of Leiden (2015-2019)
Graduated with a Double Specialisation in both Film Studies and Literary Studies
Film Sciences Dissertation: A Comparative Analysis of Contemporary Political Documentaries
Literary Sciences: Law-and-Literature in the novel Atonement (2001) by Ian McEwan
Included in the BA: Minor in Journalism and New Media (2017-2018)
Responsibilities & affiliations
Maxime is a member of the Edinburgh Life Writing Network.
Undergraduate teaching
The University of Edinburgh
- Introduction to European Cinema (2021-2023)
- Literary Studies 1A (SEM1 2023)
- Literary Studies 2A (SEM1 2023)
- Literary Studies 2B (SEM2 2024)
- Scottish Literature 2A (SEM1 2022)
King's College London
- Dutch Level 1 Part 1 (SEM1 2023/SEM2 2024)
- Dutch Level 1 Part 2 (SEM 2 2024/SEM 3 2024)
- Dutch Level 1 Part 3 (SEM 3 2024)
Nominated for the EUSA Teaching Awards for Best Student Tutor 2023.
Research summary
- Life Writing (specifically autobiographical writing)
- Confessional Writing
- The Self in Contemporary Literature
- Women's Writing
- Memory/Memory Studies
- Law and Literature
- Ecocriticism
- The Anthropocene (and its representation in literature and visual media)
- Climate Fiction
Current research interests
Maxime's research is in the field of Life Writing, specifically focussing on autobiographical literature. She analyses the confessional dimension in contemporary autobiographical writing in a developing context of online/social media. Her PhD research analyses the writing of Rachel Cusk (UK), Ghayath Almadhoun (Syria/Palestine/Sweden) and Karl Ove Knausgaard (Norway) and explores concepts that are tied to confessional writing, such as 'the self', shame, guilt, honesty, truth, memory and performance. She works with feminist theory and compares the differing reception of men and women's autobiographical writing. Basing itself in Law and Literature theory, Maxime's research aims to analyse the literary confession within/alongside other fields to which the confession is integral. Furthermore, Maxime is working on ecocritical theory and analysis, specifically focussing on the Anthropocene and its representations in literature and visual media.Project activity
2020- now: Member of the Edinburgh Life Writing Network
2021-2023: Reader for the James Tait Black Prize (Biography)
2021-now: Assistant Editor for FORUM Postgraduate Journal of Culture and the Arts.
June 2023 - now: Founder and coordinator of the Reading Group for Contemporary Scandinavian Literature
January 2024 - now: Social Media Coordinator for the LLC WIP Events
Current project grants
- Student Experience Grant Autumn 2023 (University of Edinburgh)
- Student Experience Grant Spring 2024 (University of Edinburgh)
Organiser
The LLC WIP Research Seminar Series (Co-organiser)
Seminar series for researchers and staff of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh
20th October & 10th November 2023
25th January & 28th February 2024
Papers delivered
[UPCOMING] International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship
Boston University, MA, USA (online presentation)
Paper: “Maternal Guilt and Fragmented Selves: Motherhood and Confession in Rachel Cusk’s A Life’s Work (2001).”
June 2024
International AutoBiography Association Conference 2023: Life Writing in Times of Crisis
The University of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland)
Paper delivered: "The Geo-autobiographical Confession: Location, Displacement and Guilt in the Poetry of Ghayath Almadhoun"
8th July 2023
Edinburgh Life Writing Network Research Panel: 'Selves on Trial: Confessions in Life Writing'
Paper delivered: "Two of the Best Moments in My Life": Karl Ove Knausgaard and the Postponed Confessional Structure"
5th April 2023
Department of European Languages and Cultures Research Seminar
The University of Edinburgh
Paper delivered: "In my thoughts, I sat in the witness box": Law, Literature and Life Writing in Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle (2009-2011)
24th March 2023
Environmental Emergencies Across Media Conference
Linnaeus University (Kalmar, Sweden)
Paper delivered: "The Teenage Climate Hero: Analysing Cli-fi Television with Online News Documentaries"
17th March 2023
Young Adult Studies Association Conference 2022: YA Studies Around the World
Paper delivered: "The Teenage Climate Hero: Displacement of Responsibility in the Cli-fi Series Ragnarök (2020)"
2nd November 2022