Chloe Avril
Senior Lecturer
Department of Languages andAbout Chloe Avril
Background
I was born in France and came to Sweden originally as an Erasmus student to do part of my BA from the Université Lumière Lyon II. After completing my BA and MA in Lyon I returned to Sweden and the University of Gothenburg to do a Ph.D. in American Literature. My thesis on the utopian novels of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), defended in 2006, was then published under the title The Feminist Utopian Novels of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Themes of Sexuality, Marriage, and Motherhood (Edwin Mellen Press, 2008). After completing my Ph.D. I have worked as lecturer in English literature both at the University of Gothenburg and at the Centre for Languages and Literature in Lund.
Research
My research interests include American literature, women’s and gender studies, African American studies and popular culture. After completing my PhD on Charlotte Perkins Gilman, I have worked on other research projects including a study of the representation of surrogacy in contemporary TV series, as well as on a number of articles on the autobiographies written by leaders of the Black Power movement. Currently, I am interested in the work of Richard Yates, best known for his novel Revolutionary Road (1961). My first article on Yates focused on the representation of disgust through the mother figure in Cold Spring Harbor. Other issues that interest me in relation to his work include gender politics, existentialism and realism.
Since 2010, I have been an active board member for the Swedish Association of American Studies (SAAS), for which I am currently serving as Vice-President. I am also co-editor of the Nordic Journal of English Studies (NJES).
Selected Publications
- “Aversion as Diversion: The Politics of Disgust in Cold Spring Harbor”. In Jennifer Daly, ed. Richard Yates and the Flawed American Dream: Critical Essays. Jefferson: McFarland. 2017. pp. 70-86.
- “Race, Gender and Class in the Autobiography of Huey P. Newton”. Nordic Journal of English Studies vol. 11 n. 2. 2012. 5-35.
- “The Politics of Motherhood in Charlotte Perkins Gilman”. Letterature D’America vol. XXXI n. 134. 2011. pp. 5-21.
- “More for the Fit: Gender and Class in the Representation of Designated Adoption in a Selection of U.S. Television Series”. Nordic Journal of English Studies vol. 9 n. 3. 2010. pp. 173-195.
- “‘Burn, baby, burn!’: Walter Mosley’s Little Scarlet and the Watts Riots.” Riots in Literature. David Bell and Gerald Porter eds. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. pp. 129-150.
- The Feminist Utopian Novels of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Themes of Sexuality, Marriage and Motherhood. Lewiston, N. Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.
Teaching
At the Department of Languages and Literatures (SPL), I teach primarily courses in literature and cultural studies. I am also involved in several programs, The International Language Program and the Teacher Education Program both at SPL and at the Department for Education and Special Education (IPS) where I teach courses in Children’s literature and Literary history. Together with Sara Ehrling from the Department of Languages and Literatures (Latin), I have also worked on a pedagogical project that aimed to increase pedagogical collaboration across the languages at the Department. This project has resulted in particular in one new in-depth undergraduate course: SPL134 Gender in Literature: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (7.5 HECs). The course is taught in English and offered every term.