Rural Coasts in Literature of the British and Irish Archipelago, 1870-present

About the Project

The rural and the coastal have historically been overlooked in literary and cultural studies, but increasingly draw scholarly attention in their own right. In the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries these sometimes-coinciding spaces have often suffered from similar social and environmental issues. These spaces, either in relation to the urban or the greater land mass, are experienced in terms of borders and peripheries, as archipelago, as edgelands. The parallel between the two becomes closer as, with the decline in small to medium-sized sea traffic, work moves inland and activity in both is consolidated into mega-ports/mega-farms.

From the late nineteenth century onwards, writers processed the impacts of modernity on these kinds of locations, as populations and labour became consolidated in factory cities and towns and transport developments made movement freer. The project looks away from the hegemony of the city, understanding the dominance of urban cultures as something which flattens the rural and the coastal too, sanitising these areas and rendering them inhospitable to their own population. The project thinks about rural and coastal regions as lived spaces in modernity, not as environments merely to be conserved but spaces in which humans and non-humans, built and natural environments, and ecology and society interact and coexist.

This project might consider:

• Fiction and/or poetry and/or creative non-fiction (e.g. nature writing, travel writing) in any period from 1870 to the present.
• Scotland, islands, north of England, coastal counties.
• Transnational ideas of the rural and the coastal.
• Depopulation, devolution, legacies of enclosure, environmental degradation, impacts of climate change.
• New methodologies drawing from critical fields such as littoral studies, New Coastal History, rural studies, Environmental Humanities, Blue Humanities.
• Interdisciplinary approaches uniting literary studies with, for example, ecology, conservation, rural development, sustainable development.

Your research project will benefit from supervision expertise in the School of Arts & Creative Industries. Dr Andrew Frayn specialises in modern literature and culture, including literatures of conflict and rurality; Dr Emily Alder specialises in environmental and blue humanities including coastal studies, literature and science, and Gothic literature.

You will be based at Merchiston Campus in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, join a community of research students in the School of Arts & Creative Industries, and benefit from the networks and events of the Centre for Arts, Media, and Culture. Your personal and professional development will be supported by an experienced panel and as a member of the Doctoral College you will receive extensive training opportunities and access to funding for research activity, travel, or equipment.

Subject area(s) : Languages, Literature, and Culture ; English Literature; Literatures in English

Academic Qualifications

A first degree (at least a 2:1) ideally in English Studies or a cognate discipline with a good fundamental knowledge of literature and history from 1870 onwards.

English Language Requirement

IELTS score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in each of the four components). Other equivalent qualifications will be accepted. See the University webpage: https://www.napier.ac.uk/study-with-us/international-students/english-language/english-language-requirements

Essential attributes

• Experience of fundamental studies in modern and contemporary literature and culture
• Competent in textual analysis
• Knowledge of the literary, cultural and historical contexts of the period in question
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Strong motivation, with evidence of independent research skills relevant to the project.
• Good time management

Desirable attributes:

Additional knowledge of or previous work on any of: theories of space, place and/or environment; rural and/or coastal cultures

Deadlines & timescale: Our standard entry times for research degrees are October and March, but you can make your application at any time and it will be considered for the next available intake, in this case: apply by 31 May 2025 for potential entry on 1 October 2025, or by 30 November for potential entry on 1 March 2026.

Funding Notes

This is an unfunded position