Bradley Stephens

(He/him)

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I research and teach French literature from the nineteenth century to the present day, with interests in literary adaptation, gender studies, and popular fiction. I have published widely in these areas, including five books (two single-authored, three co-edited), the most recent of which was a critical biography of Victor Hugo for Reaktion Books' 'Critical Lives' series (2019), reviewed in 'The Times Literary Supplement; as ‘a nuanced appraisal that succeeds in its mission to look beyond the clichés’. I am a specialist of Hugo's career as both a writer and a statesman, and my next book examines how masculinity is imagined in his writing and through his legacy as a French national hero. I have also recently launched a new book project on men and masculinities in contemporary French popular fiction.

I completed my BA, MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge before joining the School of Modern Languages in the University of Bristol as a lecturer in 2006. I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in 2013 and have been a member of the Arts & Humanities Research Council's Peer Review College since 2017 (AHRC/UKRI). I have also served on the editorial advisory boards of four academic journals and on the Executive Committee of the Society for French Studies (the leading subject association for French in the UK and Ireland).

Experience

  • 2022–present
    Professor, University of Bristol
  • 2019–2022
    Associate professor, University of Bristol
  • 2013–2019
    Senior lecturer, University of Bristol
  • 2006–2013
    Lecturer, University of Bristol

Education

  • 2006 
    University of Cambridge, PhD in French Literature
  • 2002 
    University of Cambridge, MPhil in European Literature (with distinction)
  • 2001 
    University of Cambridge, BA in Modern & Medieval Languages (First Class Hons)

Publications

  • 2019
    Victor Hugo, Reaktion / University of Chicago Press (Critical Lives)
  • 2018
    Approaches to Teaching Hugo's 'Les Misérables' , Modern Language Association of America (co-edited with Michal P. Ginsburg)
  • 2015
    'Les Misérables' and its Afterlives: Between Page, Stage, and Screen, Routledge (co-edited with Kathryn M. Grossman)
  • 2011
    Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre, and the Liability of Liberty, Legenda
  • 2007
    Transmissions: Essays in French Literature, Thought, and Cinema, Lang (co-edited with Isabelle McNeill)

Grants and Contracts

  • 2013
    REACT / AHRC 'Books and Print'
    Role:
    Principal Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Arts and Humanities Research Council

Professional Memberships

  • Society for French Studies
  • Society of Dix-Neuviémistes

Contact Bradley for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision