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Professor Neil Badmington

(he/him)

BA (Exeter), MA, PhD (Wales)

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Neil Badmington

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.

I am usually Head of Subject for English Literature and Creative Writing, but I'm on research leave from 1 August 2025 until 26 January 2026. While I'm away, Professor Carl Phelpstead will be Head of Subject, and I'll take the role back at the end of January.

In my previous role of Director of Studies for English Literature and Creative Writing (2022-24), I led the redesign and revalidation of our nine BA and three MA programmes in the two disciplines. This involved working closely with colleagues from other subjects across the humanities on a wide range of joint-honours undergraduate programmes. This leadership role led to my appointment in 2024 to the University-wide Programme Approval and Revalidation Sub-committee.

I do not use any kind of personal social media, and my Cardiff University email address is the only one that I have.

Research

My research interests include:

  • Contemporary literature.
  • Film and visual culture.
  • The study of literature and other cultural forms within the broader context of the humanities.
  • Literary and cultural theory.
  • The films of Alfred Hitchcock.
  • The work of Roland Barthes and poststructuralist theory more generally.
  • Creative criticism.

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. A Spanish translation of the book is forthcoming.

I am currently working on two books: a creative-critical project titled Guided by Barthes and a monograph called Majors and Minors in Hitchcock that's under contract with State University of New York Press. Please click on ‘Publications’ (above) for more detailed information about my work.

I welcome queries from potential PhD students whose plans overlap with any of my research interests.

Other academic activities

I am the founding editor of the open-access 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 on several occasions with St. David's Sixth-form College, Cardiff, on the teaching of film studies and media studies. I have also worked with Whitmore High School, Barry, as part of their Aspire project for students with an interest in film.

Since 2018 I've collaborated on numerous occasions with Snowcat Cinema to run public screenings and discussions of Alfred Hitchcock's films.

I have been an external assessor for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) and the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Belgium), and 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.

 

Publication

2026

  • Badmington, N. 2026. Rope (1948): A late bloomer. In: Kapsis, R. E. ed. Re-viewing Hitchcock: New Critical Perspectives. Bloomsbury/BFI

2025

  • Badmington, N. 2025. More than a french fry. The Times Literary Supplement 25 Jul, pp. 23.
  • Badmington, N. 2025. What makes Anthony adverse?. In: Pomerance, M. and Palmer, R. B. eds. Mervyn LeRoy Comes to Town. Rutgers University Press, pp. 57-68.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

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

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1995

Articles

Book sections

  • Badmington, N. 2026. Rope (1948): A late bloomer. In: Kapsis, R. E. ed. Re-viewing Hitchcock: New Critical Perspectives. Bloomsbury/BFI
  • Badmington, N. 2025. What makes Anthony adverse?. In: Pomerance, M. and Palmer, R. B. eds. Mervyn LeRoy Comes to Town. Rutgers University Press, pp. 57-68.
  • 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., (10.1093/actrade/9780198859963.002.0006)
  • 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

Websites

Research

Research interests

My research interests include:

  • Contemporary literature.
  • Film and visual culture.
  • The study of literature and other cultural forms within the broader context of the humanities.
  • Literary and cultural theory.
  • The films of Alfred Hitchcock.
  • The work of Roland Barthes.
  • Creative criticism.

I welcome queries from potential PhD students whose plans overlap with any of my listed interests.

While I spent the first decade or so of my career working extensively in the then-emerging field of posthumanism, I stopped working in the area completely in 2010 and haven't given it any thought since then. If you're looking for someone to supervise your PhD on posthumanism, I'm really not your best bet.

Research projects (present and past)

I am currently working on the following:

  • Majors and Minors in Hitchcock – a book that's under contract with SUNY Press, New York, for the Horizons of Cinema series edited by Murray Pomerance.
  • Guided by Barthes – a book-length creative-critical project that takes the work of Roland Barthes as its guide.
  • Volume 11 of Barthes Studies. This volume will be published on 12 November 2025.
  • 'Staying with Annie Hayworth' – a long essay on Hitchcock's The Birds for the Hitchcock Annual.
  • A piece on Han Kang's The White Book, language, and loss for a special issue of the Oxford Literary Review on fragmentary writing.

Recently completed projects include:

 

Teaching

I am on research leave in the autumn 2025 semester.

When I return to teaching in January 2026, I'll be convening and contributing to the first-year Ways of Reading: Literature, Theory, Culture core module.

Biography

Biography

After attending my local comprehensive school in the Welsh borderlands, 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. Junior Year Abroad programme.

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

Speaking engagements

Speaking engagements over the years include:

  • 'Writing Whitely' (on Han Kang's The White Book), Fragmentary Writing conference, University of Sussex.
  • 'In the Garden with Annie Hayworth', HitchCon23 conference, Mercy College, New York.
  • 'Sixty Years of The Birds', Snowcat Cinema, Penarth.
  • 'Brief Scenes: Roland Barthes and the Essay', University of Malta.
  • Introduction to a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Snowcat Cinema, Penarth.
  • 'Academic Editing', University of Ghent, Belgium.
  • 'Rope at 70', Snowcat Cinema, Penarth.
  • 'For Henriette's Tomb: Barthes, Mourning, Mallarmé', University of Malta, Cambridge University, University of Leeds, and Cardiff University,
  • 'Bored with Barthes', Centre for Modern European Literature, University of Kent.
  • 'Roland Barthes at 100', Newport and Gwent Literary Society.
  • 'Punctum Saliens: Barthes, Mourning, Film, Photography', Cardiff University.
  • 'The Bothersome Details of the World: Admiral Byrd, Little America, and the Problem of Retreat', King's College London.
  • 'Adapting Rebecca', BookTalk, Cardiff University.
  • 'Stories of "O": Hitchcock, Herrmann, and The Man Who Knew Too Much', York St. John University.
  • 'The Encredible Roland Barthes', University of Ghent, Belgium.
  • 'Posthumanimals', Concordia University, Montréal.
  • 'Posthumanimals: The Debt to Animal Studies', British Animal Studies Network, London.
  • 'Ps/zycho: Hitchcock's Magic', School of European Studies, Cardiff University.
  • 'Danger! Keep Out! Exploring Culture with Catherine Belsey', University of Ghent, Belgium.
  • 'Towards the Posthumanities', Society for Literature and Science in the Arts, Chicago.
  • '"... a drowning of the human in the physical": Jonathan Franzen and the Corrections of Humanism', Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford.
  • 'Mapping Posthumanism', Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers, London.
  • 'Nanterre, Here, Now, Encore: Fukuyama's Furphy', University of Paris X.
  • 'Theorizing Posthumanism', Ruskin School of Fine Art, University of Oxford.
  • 'Stepping Beyond Anthropocentrism', University of Exeter.
  • 'Posthuman, All too Human', University of Paris VII.

 

 

 

 

 

Committees and reviewing

I am the founding editor of the journal Barthes Studies and a member of the editorial/advisory panels of:

I am an advisor to the Critical Posthumanism Network.

Supervisions

I welcome applications or informal queries relating to PhD supervision in research areas which overlap with my own:

  • Contemporary literature.
  • The study of literature and other cultural forms within the broader context of the humanities.
  • Film and visual culture.
  • Literary and cultural theory.
  • The films of Alfred Hitchcock.
  • The work of Roland Barthes.
  • Creative criticism.

Current supervision

George Alex Hainsworth

George Alex Hainsworth

Ethan Evans

Ethan Evans

Past projects

  • Özgür Uyanık, Othering the Self in My Screenwriting Practice within the Contemporary European Arthouse Cinema Marketplace (co-supervision with Tim Rhys).
  • Jacob Wilson, Katabasis and Self as Point of View: Crafting the Reader, an Affective Experience (co-supervision with Tristan Hughes).
  • Rodolfo Piskorski da Silva, Of Zoogrammatology. (Fully funded by Coordenacao De Aperfeicoamento De Pessoal Nivel Superior, Brazilian federal government.) 
  • Callie Gardner, Roland Barthes and English-language Avant-Garde Poetry, 1970-1990. (AHRC funding.) 
  • Jessica George, Deadly Light: Machen, Lovecraft and Evolutionary Theory.
  • Angus McBlane, Embodiment in the ‘Flesh’: A Critical Posthuman Account of Embodiment. 
  • Rhys Tranter, Ill Seen Ill Said: Trauma, Representation and Subjectivity  in Samuel Beckett’s Post-war Writing. (AHRC funding.)
  • Étienne Poulard, Untimely Aesthetics: Shakespeare, Anachronism and Presence. (AHRC funding; co-supervision with Melanie Bigold.) 
  • Erica Brown Moore, Practising the Posthumanities: Evolutionary Animals, Machines and the Posthuman in the Fiction of J.G. Ballard and Kurt Vonnegut.
  • James Aubrey, The Literature of Replenishment: The Novels of Umberto Eco and J.M. Coetzee and John Barth’s Definition of Postmodernist Fiction.
  • Jessica Mordsley, The Animal in Differance: Tracing the Boundaries of the human in Post-Darwinian culture. (AHRC funding.)

Contact Details

Email Badmington@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 76255