Dr Arianna Bassetti

Profile

My thesis compared a selection of non-fiction 'graphic novels' in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Taking into account their complex relationship with reality, it asked how these visual-verbal texts can provide new interpretive frameworks for readers' understanding of current affairs. The thesis adopted a transnational perspective and relied on a broad understanding of the medium, based on a semiotic, technical and institutional definition. The aim was to read these works alongside testimonial cultural production in other media, without losing sight of what the spatial language of comics can do differently.

I began working on testimonial literature, memory and visual culture during my MA in Comparative Literature at UCL. During my PhD at QMUL, I worked in the Department of Comparative Literature as a Teaching Associate and Academic Environment Support Assistant. I was also one of the organisers of the IMLR Graduate Forum.

Currently, I am a Teaching Associate in Comparative Literature and a Teaching Fellow in Spanish.

PhD title: Witnessing War and Migration in Contemporary Graphic Narrative, 2021.
PhD supervisors: Professor Omar García (Trinity College Dublin) and Professor Galin Tihanov (QMUL)
PhD funding: Postgraduate Research Studentship

Teaching

COM4205 - European Literature and its Contexts
COM4207 - The Scene of Learning
HSP4202 - Spanish I Native
HSP5207 - Spanish II Native

Marking:
SML4006 - Culture and Language
HSP4003 - Men, Women, Song: Love Poetry in Medieval Iberia
COM5012 - Latin America: Key Concepts
COM6212 - Epic Remakes: Ancient Hero(in)es and Modern Society
COM6214 - Intersectional Feminist Writing

Research

Research Interests:

Graphic narrative, testimonial literature, cultural memory, visual culture.