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English and Comparative Literary Studies

Jenny Mak

Kinesthetic Shapeshifting: Narrative in Modern and Contemporary World Literature

Supervisors: Dr. Rashmi Varma, Prof. Thomas Docherty


My doctoral research investigates an aesthetics of modern and contemporary world literature that is kinesthetic, body-focused and morphological. Via such multicultural, postcolonial texts by Salman Rushdie, Patrick Chamoiseau, Jorge Luis Borges, Milan Kundera and other writers, I explore the moving body and its transmogrifications and argue for a new conception of the postcolonial and cultural aesthetics of the body in world literature.

Research Interests

Postcolonial Literature, World Literature and World Literary Systems, Body Studies, Aesthetics, Postmodernism, Cultural Identity

Education

PhD Candidate in English Literature, University of Warwick (October 2013 - Present)
M.A. with Distinction in English Literature, University of Warwick (October 2012 - September 2013)
B.A. (Hons) in English, University of York (October 2006 - July 2009)

Conference Papers

The Transmogrifying Re-presentation of Postcolonial Resistance Identity in Shame, Texaco and 'Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay, and Pirtha', Ninth Annual Postgraduate Symposium, University of Warwick (May 2013)

Achievements & Awards

  • Finalist, InkTears Short Story Competition (April 2013)
  • Warwick Opportunity Fund & Warwick IATL Fund, Read Me Anthology (February 2013)
  • Best A2 Level Humanities Student, Bellerbys College (July 2005)
  • £5,000 scholarship, Bellerbys College (January 2005)
  • Highly Commended Award, Commonwealth Essay Competition (2004)
  • Best in Level, English, Literature, History, Mathematics, CHIJ Katong Convent (2001-2004)

Professional Experience

My experience in the publishing and media industries informs my academic research and gives me real-world knowledge of the literary market and book production process. I have worked as an editorial assistant with teens magazine, a youth lifestyle publication in Singapore. I have also done internships with Ink Publishing (specifically Time Out Singapore magazine) and Arcadia Books, a world literature publisher in London. Most recently, I was the Editorial and Production Director of Read Me anthology, a university-funded, self-published young adult fiction anthology which has led to two of our writers being contacted by literary agents.


 

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Contact Me:

W dot H dot Mak at warwick dot ac dot uk


all discourse is 'placed', and the heart has its reasons

Stuart Hall