Dr. Jonathan Ervine

Name:

Jonathan Ervine

Position:

Lecturer in French

Email:

j.ervine@bangor.ac.uk

Location:

Room 306, New Arts Building

Phone:

01248 382129 (2129 internal)

I am originally from Fife in Scotland and studied for a B.A. in French and Philosophy at the University of Leeds. On completion of this degree in 2002, I went to Lille (France) where I worked for two years as a lecteur d’anglais at l’Université Charles de Gaulle Lille 3. During this time, I also completed an MA by research at the University of Leeds on the theme of opposition to war in French cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. I returned to Leeds in 2004 to begin a PhD on representations of social and racial exclusion in contemporary French cinema. I arrived in Bangor shortly after the submission of my PhD in August 2007. Away from University, I enjoy running, cycling and football. I am on the committee of Bangor City Football Club Supporters’ Association and write a weekly column about the team in the Bangor and Anglesey Mail.

Teaching

French language and translation (first, second and final year).
French and European Cinema: I coordinate modules about European Cinema (first year), French Cinema from 1895 to 1950 (second year) and French Cinema since 1960 (final year). I also teach an MA module entitled ‘Visions of the City in French Cinema’.
Race and immigration in France
French literature: the French novel since the eighteenth century

Responsibilities

Acting Head of French 2010-11.
Disability Contact
Member of Bangor UCU committee, Sustainability Officer
Member of Bangor University Sustainability Forum.

Research Interests

My prime research interest is cultural representations of minority groups in France such as immigrants, ethnic minorities and Muslims. Much of this has focused on cinema, although it has also covered popular music, new media and comedy. I recently participated in a major AHRC and ESRC-funded research network entitled ‘Performance, Politics, Piety: Music as Debate in Muslim Societies of North Africa, West Asia, South Asia and their Diasporas’.

In addition to the subjects mentioned above, I also do research into cinema as means for opposing war and critically reflecting on war. Whilst this initially stemmed from the study of 1950s and 1960s French films primarily dealing with the Algerian War of 1954-62, my focus has widened to include other films which have dealt with reactions to September 11th and involved analyzing work by directors such as Michael Moore. I am an active member of the French Media Research Group and have been on the Executive Committee of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) since 2007.

Main publications and other research output

'French Cinema’s Representations of Enforced Return Migration', in Scott Soo and Sharif Gemie (eds), Coming Home? Vol 3: Conflict and Return in a Post-Colonial World (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, forthcoming 2011).
‘Kamini’s Rural Rap: a Study of Minority Identities, New Media and Music’, to be published in special edition of Contemporary French Civilisation about Music and Media in France (edited by Hugh Dauncey and Chris Tinker, forthcoming November 2011).
‘Lil Maaz's Mange du kebab: challenging clichés or serving up an immigrant stereotype for mass consumption online?’, in Kamal Salhi (ed.) Music, Culture and Identity in the Muslim World: Performance, Politics and Piety (Abingdon: Routledge, forthcoming September 2011).
‘Representations of war: from the New Wave to the New Millennium’, Journal of War and Cultural Studies, 2(1): 81-91 (2009).
"Not So ‘Far From Vietnam’", in Anne-Marie Obajtek Kirkwood and Ernest A. Hakanen (eds.) Signs of War: From Patriotism to Dissent, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007 (link).
"La Ballade des sans-papiers: dix ans après", French Studies Bulletin, autumn 2007, 28: 64-67. Based on interview with Mogniss Abdallah, founder of IM’Média (French press agency specialising in issues concerning immigration and urban culture).
"Football, Race and the Republic: A Study of Reactions to France’s 1998 World Cup Victory", Leisure Studies Association Newsletter, 78 (November 2007) (contents).
Citizenship and Belonging in Suburban France: the Music of Zebda. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 7(2) (May 2008) (link).

Conferences

I have recently given conference papers on multiculturalism and humour in France, music and new media in France, and also cinematic representations of immigrants in France. Here are several examples:

‘Peut-on rire de la crise? Humorous responses to crisis and stigmatisation in France’, Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF), Nottingham Trent University, 1st-3rd September 2010.
‘From Private Voices to Public Discourse: Islam and Humour in France’, Annual Conference of the French Media Research Group (FMRG), University of Nottingham, 8th May 2010.
‘Adopted and enforced homelands in the films of Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche’, European Cinema Research Forum, Binghamton University (New York, USA), 9th-12th July 2009.
‘Immigrant Struggles in France: avoiding the transnational?', Shaping Europe in a Globalized World? Protest Movements and the Rise of a Transnational Civil Society, University of Zurich, 23rd-26th June 2009.
‘The Opposition to War in French Cinema of the 1950s and 1960s’, Confronting Cold War Conformity: Peace and Protest Cultures in Europe, 1945-1989, Charles University, Prague, 18th-25th August 2008.
'Representations of War: From the New Wave to the New Millennium', European Cinema Research Forum, Dublin Institute of Technology, 12-13th July 2008.
‘Filming the Banlieues: Paris and the Provinces’, Annual conference of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF), University of Reading, 6-8th September 2007.

Reviews

I have done review work for the journal Modern and Contemporary France.