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Damian Catani

Positions held:
  • Senior Lecturer, School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    I am Senior Lecturer in French and Programme convenor for the BA Arts and Humanities. I was Assistant Dean of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics (2022-23). I have taught at 糖心logo入口 since 2007, having previously taught at Nanterre (Paris X) 1997-98, and the Universities of Oxford (1998-2000) and Cambridge (2000-2007). My research specialisms are nineteenth-and twentieth-century French literature and thought, nineteenth-century poetry, the relationship between literature and ethics and the role of the public intellectual. My publications include three books: The Poet in Society: Art, Consumerism and Politics in Mallarm茅 (New York: Peter Lang, 2003); Evil: A History in Modern French Literature and Thought (London: Bloomsbury, 2013); and the biography聽Louis-Ferdinand C茅line: Journeys to the Extreme (Reaktion Press, 2021). My forthcoming book with Princeton University Press, Politics and Intellectuals, co-authored with Professor Patrick Baert (University of Cambridge) explores the ways in which the ideas and writings of twentieth-century European public intellectuals were directly shaped and changed by key events, such as the two World Wars, the 1968 uprisings and the fall of the Berlin Wall.聽

    Highlights

    • I completed聽 a critical biography: Louis-Ferdinand聽C茅line: Journeys to the Extreme (London, Reaktion Press, 2021).聽

      I discuss this author in a BBC radio 3 programme on his famous novel Journey to the end of the Night:


      and also I discuss the rediscovery of his lost manuscripts on BBC Radio 4, Front Row:

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ykpc



    Administrative responsibilities

    • Programme convenor, BA Arts and Humanities
    • Subject Lead, Cultures and Languages (Term 3, 2025-26)
    • Module Convener: Dissertation in Cultures and Languages
    • Module Convener: Culture and Text
    • Module Convenor, Culture and Image (Term 3, 2025-26)
    • Member of College Board

    Visiting posts

    • Visiting Fellowship, University of Bloomington, Indiana, 01 October 2006 to 01 November 2006
    • Visiting Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 01 October 2012 to 01 November 2012

    ORCID

  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • - Nineteeth- and Twentieth- Century French Literature and Thought
    • -Nineteenth-Century French poetry (especially Mallarm茅 and Baudelaire)
    • -French Literature and Evil
    • -Louis-Ferdinand C茅line
    • Andr茅 Malraux
    • The Public Intellectual

    Research Centres and Institutes

    Research clusters and groups

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Supervisions within 糖心logo入口:
    4

    I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in any of my areas of research interest.

    Doctoral alumni since 2013-14

    • KIT WONG
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor
      Title of thesis:
      Evolving Stories: Zola's Greek Tragedy, Myths and Archetypal Narratives
      Awarded:
      2018
    • MICHAEL THOMPSON
      Nature of supervision:
      Joint Principal Supervisor,
      Title of thesis:
      Beyond the silence: the French Catholic novel in the late twentieth century. An analysis of works by Fran莽oise Mallet-Joris, Christiane Singer and Sylvie Germain.
      Awarded:
      2025
    • KERRY WILLIAM PURCELL
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor
      Title of thesis:
      The Militant Historian: A study into the concept of History in the work of Alain Badiou
      Awarded:
      2022
    • PAULINE HARRIS
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor,
      Title of thesis:
      From Urgent Understanding to Raw Writing: The Synergy of Journalism and Fiction in the Novels of Sorj Chalandon
      Description:

      Sorj Chalandon is an award-winning French journalist and author of ten聽novels.

      My thesis argues that the complex interplay between his journalism and his fiction is critical to an understanding of his artistic evolution.聽

      Awarded:
      2023

    Teaching

    Teaching modules

    • Memory and History
    • The European Novella (Level 5)
    • Masterpieces of French Literature and Culture: From the Enlightenment to Postmodernity (Level 4)
    • French 5
    • Representations of Gender, Love and Sexuality (Level 5)
    • Imagining the Nation
    • Dissertation in Cultures and Languages
    • Doing Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics
    • Studying Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies in Modern Languages
    • Culture and Text: 'Imagined Communities'
  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    • Catani, Damian (2016) . French Cultural Studies 27 (3), pp. 268-278. ISSN 0957-1558.
    • Catani, Damian (2014) . Sociology Study 4 (8), pp. 661-672. ISSN 2159鈥5526.
    • Catani, Damian (2013) . Dix-Neuf 17 (3), pp. 237-250. ISSN 1478-7318.
    • Catani, Damian (2013) . French Studies 67 (4), pp. 579-580. ISSN 0016-1128.
    • Catani, Damian (2012) . Dix-Neuf 16 (3), pp. 260-270. ISSN 14787318.
    • Catani, Damian (2012) . French Studies 66 (4), pp. 569-570. ISSN 0016-1128.
    • Catani, Damian (2009) . French Studies 65 (3), pp. 396-397. ISSN 0016-1128.
    • Catani, Damian (2007) . Modern Language Review 102 (4), pp. 990-1007. ISSN 0026-7937.
    • Catani, Damian (1999) . Mots Pluriels 10,
    • Catani, Damian . AmeriQuests 11 (1), ISSN 1553-4316.

    Book

    • Catani, Damian P. (2021) . London, UK: Reaktion press. ISBN 9781789144673.
    • Catani, Damian (2013) . London, UK: Continuum Books. ISBN 9781441185563.
    • Catani, Damian (2003) . Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures. Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820457772.

    Book review

    • Catani, Damian (2009) .
    • Catani, Damian (2006) .
    • Catani, Damian (2003) .
    • Catani, Damian (2002) .
    • Catani, Damian (2001) .

    Book section

    • Catani, Damian (2019) . In: Dihal, K. (ed.) Perspectives on Evil: From Banality to Genocide. At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries. Oxford, UK: Brill. pp. 3-24. ISBN 9789004365827.
    • Catani, Damian (2019) . In: Louth, Charlie and McGuinness, Patrick (eds.) Gravity and Grace - Essays for Roger Pearson. Legenda (General Series). Oxford, UK: MHRA. pp. 112-129. ISBN 9781781887875.
    • Catani, Damian (2018) . In: Millan, G. (ed.) Mallarm茅 脿 Tournon et au-del脿. Paris, France: Classiques Garnier. ISBN 9782406066699.
    • Catani, Damian (2014) . In: Guyaux, A. and Scepi, A. (eds.) Lire 'Le Spleen de Paris' de Baudelaire. Paris: Presses de l'Universite Sorbonne. pp. 25-33. ISBN 9782840509738.
    • Catani, Damian (2011) . In: Evans, D. and Griffiths, K. (eds.) Institutions and Power in Nineteenth-Century French Literature and Culture. Faux Titre. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi. pp. 51-68. ISBN 9789042033849.
    • Catani, Damian (2005) . In: Capitanio, S. and Downing, L. and Rowe, P. and White, N. (eds.) Currencies: Fiscal Fortunes and Cultural Capital in Nineteenth-Century France. French Studies of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Peter Lang. pp. 59-71. ISBN 9783039105137.
    • Catani, Damian (2003) . In: Kinloch, D. and Millan, G. (eds.) Situating Mallarm茅. French Studies of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Peter Lang. pp. 69-83. ISBN 9783906766188.

    Conference item

    • Catani, Damian (2011) . Baudelaire in the world - Critical Traditions and Translations, 2011, Biblioth猫que historique de la ville de Paris

    External Repositories

  • Business and community

    Business and community

    Outreach

    BBC Radio 3, Free Thinking, Panel Discussion on Louis-Ferdinand Celine (November 2018):聽https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00011f6

    BBC Radio 4, Front Row (August 2021), Interview with Samira Ahmed on Louis-Ferdinand Celine:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ykpc

    Talk on Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Vanderbilt University, April 21st, 2021:

    https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/pubmedia/bandy.php?file=barsky20210421

    Invited speaker: 'The Controversial Legacy of Louis-Ferdinand C茅line: a re-evaluation in light of recent discoveries.'

    Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, The University of Toronto, September 27th, 2024