Professor Neil Badmington BA (Exeter), MA, PhD (Wales)
Professor
School of English, Communication and Philosophy
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am Professor of English Literature and have taught at Cardiff University since 1999. I was educated at the University of Exeter, the University of California, and Cardiff University. My pronouns are he/him.
I am Director of Studies for English Literature and Creative Writing.
I am the author of four books, editor of over twenty volumes, and author of many essays. I write regularly for the Times Literary Supplement. My most recent book, Perpetual Movement: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, was published by State University of New York Press in July 2021 as part of the Horizons of Cinema series edited by Murray Pomerance; a paperback edition was published in January 2022. Please click on ‘Publications’ (above) for more detailed information about my work.
I do not use any kind of personal social media, and my Cardiff University email address is the only one that I have.
Research interests
- Film, particularly the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
- Contemporary writing, especially American.
- Poststructuralist critical and cultural theory, with an emphasis upon the work of Roland Barthes.
- Creative criticism.
- Postmodern culture.
I welcome queries from potential PhD students whose plans overlap with any of my listed interests.
Academic activities
I am the founding editor of the online academic journal Barthes Studies.
From 2013 until 2018 I was co-editor (first with David Tucker, then with Emma Mason) of The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory. This journal is published by Oxford University Press for the English Association.
I have acted as undergraduate and postgraduate External Examiner at the University of Cambridge, Durham University, the University of Sussex, Goldsmiths University, Lancaster University, the University of Malta, Middlesex University, and the University of Warwick.
As part of the Welsh Government's Knowledge Transfer Scheme, I have worked with St. David's Sixth-form College, Cardiff, on the teaching of film studies.
Publication
2023
- Badmington, N. 2023. Review of Roland Barthes, Évocations et Incantations dans la tragédie grecque. Times Literary Supplement 23 Jun, pp. 24-24.
2022
- Badmington, N. ed. 2022. Barthes Studies 8 [Journal issue]. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Editorial (Volume 8). Barthes Studies 8, article number: 1.
- Badmington, N. 2022. How the Words Appear (Review of Laurence Simmons, Zizek Through Hitchcock [Palgrave, 2021]). In: Gottlieb, S. ed. Hitchcock Annual: Volume 25., Vol. 25. Columbia University Press, pp. 213-221.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Allez France!. Times Literary Supplement 27 May, pp. 18-18.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Foreword. In: Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd edition (by Catherine Belsey). Oxford University Press, pp. xvii-xviii.
2021
- Badmington, N. 2021. Roland Barthes in English: a guide to translations. Barthes Studies 7, pp. 149-223.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Editorial (Volume 7). Barthes Studies 7, pp. 1-1.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2021. Barthes Studies 7.. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Review of Patrick ffrench, Roland Barthes and Film. [Online]. Theory, Culture & Society. Available at: https://www.theoryculturesociety.org/blog/review-patrick-ffrench-roland-barthes-and-film
- Badmington, N. 2021. Perpetual movement: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema. New York: State University of New York Press.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Brief scenes: Roland Barthes and the essay. In: Aquilina, M. ed. The Essay at the Limits: Poetics, Politics and Form. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 49-62.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Approaching posthumanism. In: Sampanikou, E. D. and Stasienko, J. eds. Posthuman Studies Reader: Core Readings on Transhumanism, Posthumanism and Metahumanism., Vol. 2. Posthuman Studies Basel: Schwabe Verlag, pp. 167-174.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Catherine Belsey (1940-2021). Barthes Studies 6, pp. 85-86.
2020
- Badmington, N. 2020. Editorial: S/Z/L: Fifty years of S/Z. Barthes Studies 6, pp. 1-2.
- Badmington, N. 2020. Barthes studies 6: S/Z/L: fifty years of S/Z. Barthes Studies 6
- Badmington, N. 2020. An undefined something else: Barthes, culture, neutral life. Theory, Culture and Society 37(4), pp. 65-76. (10.1177/0263276420910493)
- Badmington, N. 2020. Hermaphrodite, Rosalba. Oxford Literary Review 42(2), pp. 136-139.
2019
- Badmington, N. 2019. Editorial (Volume 5). Barthes Studies 5, pp. 1-1.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2019. Barthes Studies 5: Roland Barthes and Greece, Ancient and Modern. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2019. Guided by Barthes: Fragments of a photo-journal. CounterText 5(1), pp. 114-134. (10.3366/count.2019.0153)
2018
- Badmington, N. 2018. Michel Foucault, Patrice Maniglier, and Dork Zabunyan, Foucault at the Movies, ed. and trans. by Clare O'Farrell (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018). [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 6034
- Badmington, N. ed. 2018. Barthes Studies 4. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2018. Editorial (Volume 4). Barthes Studies 4, pp. 1.
- Badmington, N. 2018. Roland Barthes, Album: Unpublished correspondence and texts [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 6004, pp. 30.
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. eds. 2018. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 26. Oxford University Press.
2017
- Badmington, N. 2017. Detours all the way. Barthes Studies 3, pp. 146-151.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2017. Barthes Studies 3. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2017. The bothersome details of the world: Richard Byrd, little America and the problem of retreat. Journal for Cultural Research 21(4), pp. 414-429. (10.1080/14797585.2017.1370491)
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. 2017. Preface. Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 25(1), pp. ix-x. (10.1093/ywcct/mbx023)
- Badmington, N. 2017. The afterlives of Roland Barthes. [Online]. RhysTranter.com. Available at: https://rhystranter.com/2017/02/20/neil-badmington-the-afterlives-of-roland-barthes/
- Badmington, N. ed. 2017. Deliberations: The journals of Roland Barthes. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. 2017. An interview with Stephen Regan. [Online]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/ywcct/pages/interview_with_stephen_regan
- Badmington, N. 2017. Roland Barthes. By Andy Stafford. London: Reaktion Books. 2015 [Book Review]. Modern Language Review 112(1), pp. 258-259. (10.5699/modelangrevi.112.1.0258)
- Badmington, N. 2017. Preface. In: Bennett, P. and McDougall, J. eds. Popular Culture and the Austerity Myth: Hard Times Today. Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies Routledge, pp. xv-xvi.
- Badmington, N. 2017. Bored with Barthes: ennui in China. In: Badmington, N. ed. Deliberations: The Journals of Roland Barthes. Routledge, pp. 101-121.
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. eds. 2017. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 25(1). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2016
- Badmington, N. 2016. The afterlives of Roland Barthes. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Myth-lusting. Times Literary Supplement 5923, pp. 5.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Philip Watts, Roland Barthes' cinema (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 5915, pp. 30-30.
- Badmington, N. and Grootes, B. 2016. 6 questions to .. Neil Badmington (interview by Britt Grootes). [Online]. Vol. Feb 22. WordPress. Available at: https://gemsugent.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/6-questions-to-neil-badmington/
- Badmington, N. 2016. Introduction: Deliberations: the journals of Roland Barthes. Textual Practice 30(2), pp. 205-208. (10.1080/0950236X.2016.1129722)
- Badmington, N. 2016. Barthes in China. Times Literary Supplement 5888, pp. 6.
- Badmington, N. 2016. New observations. Gobannian 73, pp. 16-19.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Bored with Barthes: ennui in China. Textual Practice 30(2), pp. 305-325. (10.1080/0950236X.2016.1129733)
- Badmington, N. ed. 2016. Textual Practice 30.2. Special Issue: Deliberations: The journals of Roland Barthes. Taylor & Francis.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. eds. 2016. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 24. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2015
- Badmington, N. 2015. Follow that Vaporetto! (Review of Laurent Binet, La Septième fonction du langage [Paris: Grasset, 2015]).. Times Literary Supplement 5880, pp. 22-22.
- Badmington, N. 2015. Editorial: Roland Barthes at 100. Barthes Studies 1(1), pp. 1-5.
- Badmington, N. 2015. Very fine gifts: an interview with Chris Turner. Barthes Studies 1(1), pp. 158-164.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2015. Barthes Studes 1: special issue: Roland Barthes at 100. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. 2015. Preface. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultual Theory 23(1), pp. xi-xii. (10.1093/ywcct/mbv020)
- Badmington, N. 2015. Fiches and biographemes. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 17-18.
2014
- Badmington, N. 2014. Kathrin Yacavone, Benjamin, Barthes and the singularity of photography (London: Bloomsbury, 2012) [Book Review]. Journal of European Studies, 44.4 44(4), pp. 6-7. (10.1177/0047244114553765d)
- Badmington, N. 2014. Jacques Derrida, For Strasbourg: conversations of friendship and philosophy (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 2014(20 Jun), pp. 30-30.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Cardiff: my personal geography. [Online]. We Are Cardiff. Available at: http://wearecardiff.co.uk/2014/03/13/cardiff-my-personal-geography-by-neil-badmington/
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume II. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume III. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. 2014. General introduction. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. 1-6.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Chronological table. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. xiii-xix.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Teoretizarea Postumanismului. Post/h/um: Jurnal de studii (post)umaniste, pp. 7-22.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. eds. 2014. The year's work in critical and cultural theory: volume 22, issue 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Badmington, N. 2014. SpectRebecca. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. 233-249.
2013
- Badmington, N. 2013. "Speech begins after death" - letter on Michel Foucault and translation. Times Literary Supplement 2013(7 Jun)
- Badmington, N. 2013. Michel Foucault, Speech begins after death (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 2013(17 May), pp. 27-27.
- Badmington, N. 2013. Kültürel Çalışmalar ve Post-İnsan Bimleri. In: Hall, G. and Birchall, C. eds. Yeni Kültürel Çalışmalar : Kuramsal Serüvenler. Kitap, pp. 379-395.
2012
- Badmington, N. 2012. Plagiarism doesn't exist [Letter]. London Review of Books 34(23), pp. 5.
- Badmington, N. 2012. Punctum Saliens: Barthes, mourning, film, photography. Paragraph 35(3), pp. 303-319. (10.3366/para.2012.0061)
- Badmington, N. 2012. Unsettled. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 26-26.
- Badmington, N. 2012. Simon Glendinning, Derrida: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)[Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 27-27.
2011
- Badmington, N. 2011. Roland Barthes, Travels in China (Cambridge: Polity, 2011)[Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 38-38.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Robbe-Grillet, Alain: Why I love Barthes - 80pp, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2011, Hardback £35.00, ISBN:9780745650784 [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 3.
- Badmington, N. 2011. English Barthes: letter on Roland Barthes. Times Literary Supplement 6, pp. 25.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Hitchcock's magic. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Sighs and citations. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 25.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Posthumanism. In: Booker, M. K. and Ryan, M. eds. The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Volume III: Cultural Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1212-1216.
2010
- Badmington, N. and Pieters, J. 2010. Editors' foreword. Textual Practice: Special Issue: Literature and Culture: The Work of Catherine Belsey 24(6), pp. 951-951. (10.1080/0950236X.2010.521664)
- Badmington, N. 2010. Man saved by Wolfe. Electronic Book Review 2010(25 Oct)
- Badmington, N. 2010. The canon: mythologies by Roland Barthes. Times Higher Education 2010(Feb), pp. 49-49.
- Badmington, N. 2010. Danger! Keep out! Exploring culture with Catherine Belsey (and other animals). Textual Practice : Special Issue: Literature and Culture: The Work of Catherine Belsey 24(6), pp. 953-65. (10.1080/0950236X.2010.521665)
- Badmington, N. 2010. The 'Inkredible' Roland Barthes. In: Badmington, N. ed. Roland Barthes: Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory., Vol. 2. London: Routledge, pp. 371-9.
- Badmington, N. 2010. Des jours sombres pour l’enseignement supérieur. Le SNESUP: Mensuel du Syndicat National de l’Enseignement Supérieur 590, pp. 22.
- Badmington, N. 2010. Posthumanism. In: Clarke, B. and Rossini, M. eds. The Routledge Companion to Literature and Science. Routledge, pp. 374-384.
- Badmington, N. 2010. What are you reading?. Times Higher Education
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume I. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume II. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume III. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Pieters, J. eds. 2010. Literature and culture: the work of Catherine Belsey (special issue of Textual Practice). Routledge.
2009
- Badmington, N. 2009. Blade Runner's blade runners. Semiotica 173, pp. 471-489. (10.1515/SEMI.2009.022)
- Badmington, N. 2009. Babelation. In: Callus, I. and Herbrechter, S. eds. Cy-Borges: Memories of the Posthuman in the Work of Jorge Luis Borges. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, pp. 60-72.
- Badmington, N. 2009. L'encroyable Roland Barthes. In: Badir, S. and Ducard, D. eds. Roland Barthes en cours (1977-1980): Un style de vie. Dijon: Editions Universitaires de Dijon, pp. 145-52.
- Badmington, N. 2009. Introduction. In: Lavers, A. ed. Roland Barthes: Mythologies. London: Vintage, pp. ix-xiv.
2008
- Badmington, N. 2008. The 'inkredible' Roland Barthes. Paragraph 31(1), pp. 84-94. (10.3366/E0264833408000096)
- Badmington, N. and Thomas, J. eds. 2008. The Routledge critical and cultural theory reader. London: Routledge.
2007
- Badmington, N. 2007. ".. a drowning of the human in the physical": Jonathan Franzen and the corrections of humanism. Subject Matters 3(2), pp. -14.
- Badmington, N. 2007. I ain't got no body: Lyotard and Le Genre of posthumanism. In: Margret, G. ed. Gender After Lyotard. State University of New York Press, pp. 27-45.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2007. Derridanimals. Oxford Literary Review Vol. 29. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Badmington, N. 2007. Declaration of ink dependence. Writing Technologies 1(1), article number: 5.
- Badmington, N. 2007. Derridanimals. Oxford Literary Review 29(1), pp. v-vii. (10.3366/olr.2007.001)
- Badmington, N. 2007. Posthuman conditions. Subject Matters, pp. ix-xi.
2006
- Badmington, N. 2006. Cultural studies and the posthumanities. In: Hall, G. and Birchall, C. eds. New Cultural Studies. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 260-272.
2005
- Badmington, N. 2005. Posthumanism. In: Malpas, S. and Wake, P. eds. The Routledge Companion to Critical Theory. Routledge, pp. 240-241.
- Badmington, N. 2005. From critical practice to cultural criticism: an interview with Catherine Belsey. Textual Practice 19(1), pp. 1-12. (10.1080/0950236042000329618)
2004
- Badmington, N. 2004. I've got UFO under my skin. Times Higher Education, pp. 15-15.
- Badmington, N. 2004. Alien chic: posthumanism and the other within. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. 2004. Sarah Whatmore, Hybrid geographies: natures, cultures, spaces (London: Sage, 2002) [Book Review]. Cultural Geographies 11(2), pp. 230-231. (10.1177/147447400401100209)
- Badmington, N. 2004. Post, oblique, human. Theology & Sexuality 10(2), pp. 56-64. (10.1177/135583580401000205)
- Castree, N., Nash, C., Badmington, N., Braun, B., Murdoch, J. and Whatmore, S. 2004. Mapping posthumanism: an exchange. Environment and Planning A 36(8), pp. 1341-1363. (10.1068/a37127)
- Badmington, N. 2004. Roswell High, alien chic, and the in/human. In: Davis, G. and Dickinson, K. eds. Teen TV: Genre, Consumption and Identity. BFI, pp. 166-176.
2003
- Badmington, N. 2003. Come on down!. The Guardian 2003(11 Jan), pp. 4-6.
- Badmington, N. 2003. Theorizing posthumanism. Cultural Critique 53(1), pp. 10-27. (10.1353/cul.2003.0017)
- Badmington, N. 2003. Elaine L. Graham, Representations of the post/human: monsters, aliens and others in popular culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002) [Book Review]. Textual Practice 16(1), pp. 146-149. (10.1080/09502360110108383)
2002
- Badmington, N. 2002. Revaluations: Pierre Macherey. The European English Messenger 11(1), pp. 65-68.
- Badmington, N. 2002. Iain Chambers, Culture after humanism: history, culture, subjectivity (London and New York: Routledge, 2001) [Book Review]. Textual Practice 16(1), pp. 188-191. (10.1080/09502360110108383)
2001
- Badmington, N. 2001. Scott Brewster, John J. Joughin, David Owen and Richard J. Walker, eds. Inhuman reflections: thinking the limits of the human (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2000) [Book Review]. Notes and Queries 48(3), pp. 350-352. (10.1093/nq/48.3.35)
- Badmington, N. 2001. Pod almighty!; or, humanism, posthumanism, and the strange case of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Textual Practice 15(1), pp. 5-22. (10.1080/09502360010013848)
- Badmington, N. 2001. Pierre Macherey. The Literary Encyclopedia
- Badmington, N. 2001. Jean Baudrillard. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Routledge, pp. 42-42.
- Badmington, N. 2001. Ernesto Laclau. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Routledge, pp. 257-258.
- Badmington, N. 2001. Metanarrative. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 280-280.
2000
- Badmington, N. 2000. Mirror stage. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 283-283.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Parole. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 320-321.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Posthumanism. Readers in Cultural Criticism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Posthumanist (com)promises: diffracting Donna Haraway's Cyborg through Marge Piercy's Body of Glass. In: Badmington, N. ed. Posthumanism. Readers in Cultural Criticism Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 85-97.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Slipstreaming with Lacan [Book Review]. Science Fiction Studies 27(2), pp. 321-325.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Disclosure's disclosure. In: Lay, F. and West, R. eds. Subverting masculinity: hegemonic and alternative versions of masculinity in contemporary culture. Rodopi, pp. 94-105.
1999
- Badmington, N. 1999. Theory 3 - English. Times Higher Education Supplement 30, pp. 19.
1998
- Badmington, N. 1998. A handbook of their own. Science Fiction Studies 42, pp. 539-543.
1995
- Badmington, N. 1995. Cruising the information superhighway: Computer-mediated communication, cultural landscapes, and the struggle over meaning. In: Gidley, M. and Lawson-Peebles, R. eds. Modern American Landscapes. Amsterdam: VU University Press, pp. 275-291.
Articles
- Badmington, N. 2023. Review of Roland Barthes, Évocations et Incantations dans la tragédie grecque. Times Literary Supplement 23 Jun, pp. 24-24.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Editorial (Volume 8). Barthes Studies 8, article number: 1.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Allez France!. Times Literary Supplement 27 May, pp. 18-18.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Roland Barthes in English: a guide to translations. Barthes Studies 7, pp. 149-223.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Editorial (Volume 7). Barthes Studies 7, pp. 1-1.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Catherine Belsey (1940-2021). Barthes Studies 6, pp. 85-86.
- Badmington, N. 2020. Editorial: S/Z/L: Fifty years of S/Z. Barthes Studies 6, pp. 1-2.
- Badmington, N. 2020. Barthes studies 6: S/Z/L: fifty years of S/Z. Barthes Studies 6
- Badmington, N. 2020. An undefined something else: Barthes, culture, neutral life. Theory, Culture and Society 37(4), pp. 65-76. (10.1177/0263276420910493)
- Badmington, N. 2020. Hermaphrodite, Rosalba. Oxford Literary Review 42(2), pp. 136-139.
- Badmington, N. 2019. Editorial (Volume 5). Barthes Studies 5, pp. 1-1.
- Badmington, N. 2019. Guided by Barthes: Fragments of a photo-journal. CounterText 5(1), pp. 114-134. (10.3366/count.2019.0153)
- Badmington, N. 2018. Michel Foucault, Patrice Maniglier, and Dork Zabunyan, Foucault at the Movies, ed. and trans. by Clare O'Farrell (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018). [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 6034
- Badmington, N. 2018. Editorial (Volume 4). Barthes Studies 4, pp. 1.
- Badmington, N. 2018. Roland Barthes, Album: Unpublished correspondence and texts [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 6004, pp. 30.
- Badmington, N. 2017. Detours all the way. Barthes Studies 3, pp. 146-151.
- Badmington, N. 2017. The bothersome details of the world: Richard Byrd, little America and the problem of retreat. Journal for Cultural Research 21(4), pp. 414-429. (10.1080/14797585.2017.1370491)
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. 2017. Preface. Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 25(1), pp. ix-x. (10.1093/ywcct/mbx023)
- Badmington, N. 2017. Roland Barthes. By Andy Stafford. London: Reaktion Books. 2015 [Book Review]. Modern Language Review 112(1), pp. 258-259. (10.5699/modelangrevi.112.1.0258)
- Badmington, N. 2016. Myth-lusting. Times Literary Supplement 5923, pp. 5.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Philip Watts, Roland Barthes' cinema (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 5915, pp. 30-30.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Introduction: Deliberations: the journals of Roland Barthes. Textual Practice 30(2), pp. 205-208. (10.1080/0950236X.2016.1129722)
- Badmington, N. 2016. Barthes in China. Times Literary Supplement 5888, pp. 6.
- Badmington, N. 2016. New observations. Gobannian 73, pp. 16-19.
- Badmington, N. 2016. Bored with Barthes: ennui in China. Textual Practice 30(2), pp. 305-325. (10.1080/0950236X.2016.1129733)
- Badmington, N. 2015. Follow that Vaporetto! (Review of Laurent Binet, La Septième fonction du langage [Paris: Grasset, 2015]).. Times Literary Supplement 5880, pp. 22-22.
- Badmington, N. 2015. Editorial: Roland Barthes at 100. Barthes Studies 1(1), pp. 1-5.
- Badmington, N. 2015. Very fine gifts: an interview with Chris Turner. Barthes Studies 1(1), pp. 158-164.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. 2015. Preface. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultual Theory 23(1), pp. xi-xii. (10.1093/ywcct/mbv020)
- Badmington, N. 2015. Fiches and biographemes. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 17-18.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Kathrin Yacavone, Benjamin, Barthes and the singularity of photography (London: Bloomsbury, 2012) [Book Review]. Journal of European Studies, 44.4 44(4), pp. 6-7. (10.1177/0047244114553765d)
- Badmington, N. 2014. Jacques Derrida, For Strasbourg: conversations of friendship and philosophy (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 2014(20 Jun), pp. 30-30.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Teoretizarea Postumanismului. Post/h/um: Jurnal de studii (post)umaniste, pp. 7-22.
- Badmington, N. 2013. "Speech begins after death" - letter on Michel Foucault and translation. Times Literary Supplement 2013(7 Jun)
- Badmington, N. 2013. Michel Foucault, Speech begins after death (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013) [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement 2013(17 May), pp. 27-27.
- Badmington, N. 2012. Plagiarism doesn't exist [Letter]. London Review of Books 34(23), pp. 5.
- Badmington, N. 2012. Punctum Saliens: Barthes, mourning, film, photography. Paragraph 35(3), pp. 303-319. (10.3366/para.2012.0061)
- Badmington, N. 2012. Unsettled. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 26-26.
- Badmington, N. 2012. Simon Glendinning, Derrida: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)[Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 27-27.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Roland Barthes, Travels in China (Cambridge: Polity, 2011)[Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 38-38.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Robbe-Grillet, Alain: Why I love Barthes - 80pp, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2011, Hardback £35.00, ISBN:9780745650784 [Book Review]. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 3.
- Badmington, N. 2011. English Barthes: letter on Roland Barthes. Times Literary Supplement 6, pp. 25.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Sighs and citations. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 25.
- Badmington, N. and Pieters, J. 2010. Editors' foreword. Textual Practice: Special Issue: Literature and Culture: The Work of Catherine Belsey 24(6), pp. 951-951. (10.1080/0950236X.2010.521664)
- Badmington, N. 2010. Man saved by Wolfe. Electronic Book Review 2010(25 Oct)
- Badmington, N. 2010. The canon: mythologies by Roland Barthes. Times Higher Education 2010(Feb), pp. 49-49.
- Badmington, N. 2010. Danger! Keep out! Exploring culture with Catherine Belsey (and other animals). Textual Practice : Special Issue: Literature and Culture: The Work of Catherine Belsey 24(6), pp. 953-65. (10.1080/0950236X.2010.521665)
- Badmington, N. 2010. Des jours sombres pour l’enseignement supérieur. Le SNESUP: Mensuel du Syndicat National de l’Enseignement Supérieur 590, pp. 22.
- Badmington, N. 2010. What are you reading?. Times Higher Education
- Badmington, N. 2009. Blade Runner's blade runners. Semiotica 173, pp. 471-489. (10.1515/SEMI.2009.022)
- Badmington, N. 2008. The 'inkredible' Roland Barthes. Paragraph 31(1), pp. 84-94. (10.3366/E0264833408000096)
- Badmington, N. 2007. ".. a drowning of the human in the physical": Jonathan Franzen and the corrections of humanism. Subject Matters 3(2), pp. -14.
- Badmington, N. 2007. Declaration of ink dependence. Writing Technologies 1(1), article number: 5.
- Badmington, N. 2007. Derridanimals. Oxford Literary Review 29(1), pp. v-vii. (10.3366/olr.2007.001)
- Badmington, N. 2007. Posthuman conditions. Subject Matters, pp. ix-xi.
- Badmington, N. 2005. From critical practice to cultural criticism: an interview with Catherine Belsey. Textual Practice 19(1), pp. 1-12. (10.1080/0950236042000329618)
- Badmington, N. 2004. I've got UFO under my skin. Times Higher Education, pp. 15-15.
- Badmington, N. 2004. Sarah Whatmore, Hybrid geographies: natures, cultures, spaces (London: Sage, 2002) [Book Review]. Cultural Geographies 11(2), pp. 230-231. (10.1177/147447400401100209)
- Badmington, N. 2004. Post, oblique, human. Theology & Sexuality 10(2), pp. 56-64. (10.1177/135583580401000205)
- Castree, N., Nash, C., Badmington, N., Braun, B., Murdoch, J. and Whatmore, S. 2004. Mapping posthumanism: an exchange. Environment and Planning A 36(8), pp. 1341-1363. (10.1068/a37127)
- Badmington, N. 2003. Come on down!. The Guardian 2003(11 Jan), pp. 4-6.
- Badmington, N. 2003. Theorizing posthumanism. Cultural Critique 53(1), pp. 10-27. (10.1353/cul.2003.0017)
- Badmington, N. 2003. Elaine L. Graham, Representations of the post/human: monsters, aliens and others in popular culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002) [Book Review]. Textual Practice 16(1), pp. 146-149. (10.1080/09502360110108383)
- Badmington, N. 2002. Revaluations: Pierre Macherey. The European English Messenger 11(1), pp. 65-68.
- Badmington, N. 2002. Iain Chambers, Culture after humanism: history, culture, subjectivity (London and New York: Routledge, 2001) [Book Review]. Textual Practice 16(1), pp. 188-191. (10.1080/09502360110108383)
- Badmington, N. 2001. Scott Brewster, John J. Joughin, David Owen and Richard J. Walker, eds. Inhuman reflections: thinking the limits of the human (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2000) [Book Review]. Notes and Queries 48(3), pp. 350-352. (10.1093/nq/48.3.35)
- Badmington, N. 2001. Pod almighty!; or, humanism, posthumanism, and the strange case of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Textual Practice 15(1), pp. 5-22. (10.1080/09502360010013848)
- Badmington, N. 2001. Pierre Macherey. The Literary Encyclopedia
- Badmington, N. 2000. Slipstreaming with Lacan [Book Review]. Science Fiction Studies 27(2), pp. 321-325.
- Badmington, N. 1999. Theory 3 - English. Times Higher Education Supplement 30, pp. 19.
- Badmington, N. 1998. A handbook of their own. Science Fiction Studies 42, pp. 539-543.
Book sections
- Badmington, N. 2022. How the Words Appear (Review of Laurence Simmons, Zizek Through Hitchcock [Palgrave, 2021]). In: Gottlieb, S. ed. Hitchcock Annual: Volume 25., Vol. 25. Columbia University Press, pp. 213-221.
- Badmington, N. 2022. Foreword. In: Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd edition (by Catherine Belsey). Oxford University Press, pp. xvii-xviii.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Brief scenes: Roland Barthes and the essay. In: Aquilina, M. ed. The Essay at the Limits: Poetics, Politics and Form. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 49-62.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Approaching posthumanism. In: Sampanikou, E. D. and Stasienko, J. eds. Posthuman Studies Reader: Core Readings on Transhumanism, Posthumanism and Metahumanism., Vol. 2. Posthuman Studies Basel: Schwabe Verlag, pp. 167-174.
- Badmington, N. 2017. Preface. In: Bennett, P. and McDougall, J. eds. Popular Culture and the Austerity Myth: Hard Times Today. Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies Routledge, pp. xv-xvi.
- Badmington, N. 2017. Bored with Barthes: ennui in China. In: Badmington, N. ed. Deliberations: The Journals of Roland Barthes. Routledge, pp. 101-121.
- Badmington, N. 2014. General introduction. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. 1-6.
- Badmington, N. 2014. Chronological table. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. xiii-xix.
- Badmington, N. 2014. SpectRebecca. In: Badmington, N. ed. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers London: Routledge, pp. 233-249.
- Badmington, N. 2013. Kültürel Çalışmalar ve Post-İnsan Bimleri. In: Hall, G. and Birchall, C. eds. Yeni Kültürel Çalışmalar : Kuramsal Serüvenler. Kitap, pp. 379-395.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Posthumanism. In: Booker, M. K. and Ryan, M. eds. The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Volume III: Cultural Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1212-1216.
- Badmington, N. 2010. The 'Inkredible' Roland Barthes. In: Badmington, N. ed. Roland Barthes: Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory., Vol. 2. London: Routledge, pp. 371-9.
- Badmington, N. 2010. Posthumanism. In: Clarke, B. and Rossini, M. eds. The Routledge Companion to Literature and Science. Routledge, pp. 374-384.
- Badmington, N. 2009. Babelation. In: Callus, I. and Herbrechter, S. eds. Cy-Borges: Memories of the Posthuman in the Work of Jorge Luis Borges. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, pp. 60-72.
- Badmington, N. 2009. L'encroyable Roland Barthes. In: Badir, S. and Ducard, D. eds. Roland Barthes en cours (1977-1980): Un style de vie. Dijon: Editions Universitaires de Dijon, pp. 145-52.
- Badmington, N. 2009. Introduction. In: Lavers, A. ed. Roland Barthes: Mythologies. London: Vintage, pp. ix-xiv.
- Badmington, N. 2007. I ain't got no body: Lyotard and Le Genre of posthumanism. In: Margret, G. ed. Gender After Lyotard. State University of New York Press, pp. 27-45.
- Badmington, N. 2006. Cultural studies and the posthumanities. In: Hall, G. and Birchall, C. eds. New Cultural Studies. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 260-272.
- Badmington, N. 2005. Posthumanism. In: Malpas, S. and Wake, P. eds. The Routledge Companion to Critical Theory. Routledge, pp. 240-241.
- Badmington, N. 2004. Roswell High, alien chic, and the in/human. In: Davis, G. and Dickinson, K. eds. Teen TV: Genre, Consumption and Identity. BFI, pp. 166-176.
- Badmington, N. 2001. Jean Baudrillard. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Routledge, pp. 42-42.
- Badmington, N. 2001. Ernesto Laclau. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. Routledge, pp. 257-258.
- Badmington, N. 2001. Metanarrative. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 280-280.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Mirror stage. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 283-283.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Parole. In: Pearson, R. E. and Simpson, P. eds. Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory. London: Routledge, pp. 320-321.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Posthumanist (com)promises: diffracting Donna Haraway's Cyborg through Marge Piercy's Body of Glass. In: Badmington, N. ed. Posthumanism. Readers in Cultural Criticism Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 85-97.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Disclosure's disclosure. In: Lay, F. and West, R. eds. Subverting masculinity: hegemonic and alternative versions of masculinity in contemporary culture. Rodopi, pp. 94-105.
- Badmington, N. 1995. Cruising the information superhighway: Computer-mediated communication, cultural landscapes, and the struggle over meaning. In: Gidley, M. and Lawson-Peebles, R. eds. Modern American Landscapes. Amsterdam: VU University Press, pp. 275-291.
Books
- Badmington, N. ed. 2022. Barthes Studies 8 [Journal issue]. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2021. Barthes Studies 7.. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. 2021. Perpetual movement: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema. New York: State University of New York Press.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2019. Barthes Studies 5: Roland Barthes and Greece, Ancient and Modern. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2018. Barthes Studies 4. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. eds. 2018. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 26. Oxford University Press.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2017. Barthes Studies 3. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2017. Deliberations: The journals of Roland Barthes. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. eds. 2017. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 25(1). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Badmington, N. 2016. The afterlives of Roland Barthes. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2016. Textual Practice 30.2. Special Issue: Deliberations: The journals of Roland Barthes. Taylor & Francis.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. eds. 2016. The year's work in critical and cultural theory 24. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2015. Barthes Studes 1: special issue: Roland Barthes at 100. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume I. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume II. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume III. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2014. Alfred Hitchcock: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations of Leading Film-makers. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Tucker, D. eds. 2014. The year's work in critical and cultural theory: volume 22, issue 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Badmington, N. 2011. Hitchcock's magic. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume I. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume II. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume III. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2010. Roland Barthes: Volume IV. Critical Evaluations in Cultural Theory. Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Pieters, J. eds. 2010. Literature and culture: the work of Catherine Belsey (special issue of Textual Practice). Routledge.
- Badmington, N. and Thomas, J. eds. 2008. The Routledge critical and cultural theory reader. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. ed. 2007. Derridanimals. Oxford Literary Review Vol. 29. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Badmington, N. 2004. Alien chic: posthumanism and the other within. London: Routledge.
- Badmington, N. 2000. Posthumanism. Readers in Cultural Criticism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Websites
- Badmington, N. 2021. Review of Patrick ffrench, Roland Barthes and Film. [Online]. Theory, Culture & Society. Available at: https://www.theoryculturesociety.org/blog/review-patrick-ffrench-roland-barthes-and-film
- Badmington, N. 2017. The afterlives of Roland Barthes. [Online]. RhysTranter.com. Available at: https://rhystranter.com/2017/02/20/neil-badmington-the-afterlives-of-roland-barthes/
- Badmington, N. and Mason, E. 2017. An interview with Stephen Regan. [Online]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/ywcct/pages/interview_with_stephen_regan
- Badmington, N. and Grootes, B. 2016. 6 questions to .. Neil Badmington (interview by Britt Grootes). [Online]. Vol. Feb 22. WordPress. Available at: https://gemsugent.wordpress.com/2016/02/22/6-questions-to-neil-badmington/
- Badmington, N. 2014. Cardiff: my personal geography. [Online]. We Are Cardiff. Available at: http://wearecardiff.co.uk/2014/03/13/cardiff-my-personal-geography-by-neil-badmington/
Research
Research interests
- Film, particularly the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
- Contemporary writing, especially American.
- Poststructuralist critical and cultural theory, with an emphasis upon the work of Roland Barthes.
- Creative criticism.
- Postmodern culture.
I welcome queries from potential PhD students whose plans overlap with any of my listed interests.
I spent the first decade or so of my career working extensively in the then-emerging field of posthumanism, but I haven't written a word about the subject since 2010 and won't be doing so between now and the end of my career.
Research projects (present and past)
I am currently working on the following:
- Guided by Barthes – a book-length creative-critical project that takes the work of Roland Barthes as its guide.
- An essay on Mervyn LeRoy's Anthony Adverse for a collection titled Mervyn LeRoy Comes to Town, edited by Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer for Rutgers University Press.
- Volume 9 of Barthes Studies. This will be published on 12 November 2023.
- An essay on Hitchcock's Rope for a collection titled Re-Viewing Hitchcock: New Critical Perspectives, edited by Robert E. Kapsis for Bloomsbury/BFI.
Recently completed projects include:
- A book titled Perpetual Movement: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope for the Horizons of Cinema series edited by Murray Pomerance for SUNY Press, New York. This is the first book-length study of Rope to be published in English, and it makes extensive original use of archival materials held in the Warner Bros. Archive in Los Angeles and at the Margaret Herrick Library, Beverly Hills. The book was published in hardback in July 2021 and in paperback in January 2022.
- Seeing through to publication the second edition of Catherine Belsey's Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction. Kate was making her final alterations to this book when she was hospitalised in late 2020; she died in February 2021. At the request of her family, I finalised the text for publication using two sources: a file from Kate’s computer and a typescript with handwritten annotations that was found on her desk. The book was published by Oxford University Press in August 2022.
- A review of Roland Barthes's Évocations et Incantations dans la tragédie grecque for the Times Literary Supplement. This piece was published in the paper on 23 June 2023. An online version was published as 'Rehearsing His Lines' on the same day.
- 'Allez France!' – a review for the Times Literary Supplement of Peter Watson's The French Mind and Graham Robb's France: An Adventure History. This article was published in the issue of the TLS dated 27 May 2022 (an online version is available via this link) and was discussed by Russell Williams in that week's TLS Podcast.
- 'How the Words Appear' – a long review of Laurence Simmons's Žižek through Hitchcock for volume 25 of the Hitchcock Annual.
- Volume 8 of Barthes Studies. This was published on 12 November 2022.
- 'Roland Barthes in English: A Guide to Translations'. This 12,000-word open-access reference resource provides details of all of the English translations of the work of Roland Barthes.
Biography
Biography
I was born and grew up in the small town of Abergavenny in the Welsh borderlands at a time when it was often said that the county of Monmouthshire was somehow in neither Wales nor England. As Raymond Williams, who came from the same area, once put it: 'We talked of "The English" who were not us, and "The Welsh" who were not us.' It ought to have been clear to everyone that a sporting life did not lie ahead of me, but I was nonetheless often told that I 'could go either way' or 'play for either team'. When, many years later, I first encountered poststructuralism's suspicion of binaries, certainties, and fixed categories, I felt that I had found theoretical confirmation of something that I had always taken for granted.
After attending my local comprehensive school, I became the first person in my family to attend university when I went to Exeter to study American and Commonwealth Arts (1990-94). A year abroad at the University of California in 1992-93 introduced me in detail for the first time to critical and cultural theory, and I went on to study for an MA (1994-95) and PhD (1995-98) in this field at Cardiff University, with funding from the British Academy and under the supervision of Catherine Belsey. (My obituaries for Catherine Belsey, co-authored with Julia Thomas, are available on the Cardiff University website and in the Guardian, and a more personal piece about what she meant to me is available here.)
After completing my PhD in late 1998, I was appointed to the department.
Education and qualifications
1995-98: PhD, Cardiff University. (British Academy Studentship.) Supervisor: Catherine Belsey.
1994-95: MA in Critical and Cultural Theory, Cardiff University. (British Academy Studentship.)
1992-93: University of California, Santa Cruz.
1990-94: BA in American and Commonwealth Arts, University of Exeter. Class I. Winner, Exeter Literary Society Prize, 1994. Winner, David Henderson Award, 1994.
1982-89: King Henry VIII Comprehensive School, Abergavenny.
Academic positions
2015-present: Professor of English Literature, Cardiff University
2009-2015: Reader in English Literature, Cardiff University
2005-2009: Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Cardiff University
2001-2005: Lecturer (B) in English Literature, Cardiff University
1999-2001: Lecturer (A) in English Literature, Cardiff University
1998-1999: Hourly paid Associate Lecturer in English Literature, Cardiff University
Committees and reviewing
I am the founding editor of the journal Barthes Studies and a member of the editorial/advisory panels of:
- Revue Roland Barthes
- CounterText
- Phrasis: Studies in Language and Literature
- Writing Technologies
- Études britanniques contemporaines
- Brill's Critical Posthumanisms book series.
I am a member of the Northern Theory School and an advisor to the Critical Posthumanism Network.
I have assessed research grant applications externally for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) and the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Belgium). In 2008, I was appointed expert étranger for a panel of the Agence d'évaluation de la recherche de l'enseignement supérieur (AERES) assessing the quality of research at University of Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle, University of Paris XIII-Villetaneuse, and University of Paris-Dauphine.
Supervisions
I welcome applications or informal queries relating to PhD supervision in research areas which overlap with my own:
- Film, particularly the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
- Contemporary fiction, especially American.
- Poststructuralist critical and cultural theory, with an emphasis upon the work of Roland Barthes.
- Postmodern culture.