Sophie Stringfellow

Email: sophie.stringfellow@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Thesis Title

Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Spectral Performance

Supervisors

Prof. Stephen Bottoms and Prof. Maggie Gale

Research Summary

My project will explore for the first time the theatrical phenomenon of ghosting and the performance of spectrality in the relationship between Henry James and Oscar Wilde. Working at the interface between performance studies, literature and cultural history, I aim to re-interpret the queer, spectral dynamics of these canonical literary figures, questioning how their multiple appearances across historical and contemporary sources might offer a tangible link with the past which productively destabilises the present.

Research Interests

• Henry James
• Oscar Wilde
• Fin-de-siècle theatre culture
• Performance studies
• Spectrality
• Theatrical ghosting
• Temporality
• Queer theory

Conference Papers

‘Beyond Panic: Spectral Performance in Oscar Wilde’s Salome and Henry James’s ‘The Beast in the Jungle’, Roles: A Sexuality and Gender Forum, 21st May 2015, University of Birmingham.

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