[Picture: Typewriter by Jay Neil]

The Department of Modern Languages is delighted to announce that Anne Grydehoj has completed her PhD in French Studies, titled ‘Citizenship, Gender and Ethnicity in French and Scandinavian Engaged Crime Fiction 1965-2015’, under the supervision of Dr Lucy O’Meara and Dr Thomas Baldwin.

Anne’s thesis explores the nature of crime fiction produced by France and Scandinavia between 1965 and 2015. Crime fiction, as a genre, responds to shifting social realities. She focuses on the French model of Republican Universalism and the Scandinavian welfare state, examining the role they play in the depiction of relationships between state and citizen, and other identity issues (class, gender, sexuality and ethnicity in particular).

Anne’s comparative study of these themes examines the rigid social model of French universalism and the more socially orientated attitudes of Scandinavia, underlining how the genre functions as a vehicle for social critique.

Our congratulations to Dr Grydehoj.

For more details of the PhD in Modern Languages, please see the page: https://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/modern-languages/postgraduate/index.html