JC Bernthal
Telephone: 07449 310 137
College: College of Humanities
Discipline: English
Department: English
Research Centre/Unit: CISSGE
After completing my BA in Theology and Writing at the University of Chester, I undertook an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter, where I have received AHRC funding to pursue doctoral studies. Research interests include British detective fiction, queer theory and 'masquerade', 'middlebrow' fiction, and the New Testament in twentieth century popular literature. My thesis (MPhil/PhD) is Queering the Outcast in Agatha Christie: 1920-1950, which provides a respectable avenue for close-reading my favourite author.
My PhD approaches golden age detective fiction from a queer theoretical perspective. I am particularly interested in concepts of homosexual panic, the masquerade of womanhood, and Christie's "camp" legacy.
In 2014 I organised Britain's first academic conference devoted to Christie, "Agatha Christie: Crime, Culture, Celebrity" at the University of Exeter. This event was fortunate to receive a £500 funding award from Research Development. I also co-organised a major international conference, "Queens of Crime" in Senate House, University of London in June 2014.
Right now I am finishing up my PhD thesis and co-organising the second international Agatha Christie conference at the University of Exeter. This event has received three generous funding awards.
For future projects I am interested in looking at gender-b(l)ending in popular culture, especially children's fiction, at the image of the male corpse, and at the fiction of Gladys Mitchell and Dorothy Bowers.
