My main research interests focus mainly on contemporary Catalan literature, with special interest in poetry and narrative, the construction of identity and cross-disciplinary discourses. My thesis analysed the role of English poetry in the work of Gabriel Ferrater. It dealt specifically with theories of modernity, processes of canonisation, and presented a sociological and philosophical approach to the construction of a collective voice following Simmel and Bergson’s ideas. My research received support from two grants issued by institutional bodies, the AHRC and the former individual Beca Batista i Roca by the Catalan government (2001-2003).
From the perspective of exile theories, I have also explored the creation of Catalan communities in exile and the work of poets such as Josep Palau i Fabre and Montserrat Abelló. My recent research on the poetry of Abelló has led me to the study of the body and its representations in Catalan poetry. I am committed to all aspects of Catalan Studies. In 2009, I organised a one-day conference on the intersection of Poetry and Architecture in Catalonia. In 2010, I completed work on a Historical Dictionary of the Catalans with Dr Helena Buffery of the University of Cork. Currently, I am working on the publication of revised and expanded version of my thesis.
Research groups
I am a member of the Centre for the Study on Hispanic Exile and I was a co-investigator on a British Academy-supported project on ‘Exile Remains’ directed by Professor Francis Lough (2006-2007).
I have been the Secretary of the Federació Internacional d’Associacions de Catalanística (FIAC) (2007-2009) and, since 2009, I am the treasurer. I am the staff-student liaison representative of the Department of Hispanic Studies.
Events and conferences
Amongst other activities to promote and enhance Catalan Studies, I have recently organised and co-organised the following events:
2012– Co-organiser of ‘II Basque Catalan and Galician Cinema Season’, 2nd, 9th and 16th May at the MAC. The Catalan session with the producer Isona Passola was translated by Dr Eva Bru and it was supported by the Institut Ramon Llull and the University of Birmingham.
2011– Co-organiser with the Institut Ramon Llull of ‘Workshop of UK based Catalan Tutors’, 18 November, University of Birmingham (more information in www.galbascat.blogspot.com).
2011 – Co-organiser of ‘Basque Catalan and Galician Cinema Season’, 12, 19 and 26 May at the MAC. The Catalan session with the director Jordi Cadena was translated by Jennifer Arnold and it was supported by the Institut Ramon Llull and the University of Birmingham (more information in www.galbascat.blogspot.com).
2010 – Organiser of ‘Trueta’ with Àngels Aymar and Dr Montserrat Roser i Puig, 25November. This event was supported by the Institut Ramon Llull and the University of Birmingham.
2009 – Organiser of ‘One-day Conference on the Intersection of Poetry and Architecture in Catalonia’, 5June. This event was translated by Jennifer Arnold, Eva Bru and Laia Darder. It was supported by the Institut Ramon Llull and the University of Birmingham.
Selected publications
Marcer, E., Buffery, H. Historical Dictionary of the Catalans, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011.
Edited work
Spanish Republican Exile Geographies. Co-edited proceedings with H. Buffery, F. Lough and A. Sánchez, University of Birmingham, 2011.
Book chapters and journal articles
‘El cos és l’altre: simultaneïtat i tacte en la poesia de Montserrat Abelló’, Catalan Review, Special Issue ‘Poesia, experimentació i alteritat’, (Coord.) X. Barceló, M. Picornell and M. Muntaner. (7, 228 words. Forthcoming 2012)
‘El gris ressò de la ferralla: o la mediació de l’espai urbà en la poesia de Gabriel Ferrater’, Veus baixes 0, May 2012, Studia digitalia in memoriam Gabriel Ferrater, ed. Col.lectiu Veus baixes, Palma, pp. 117-134.
[http://www.veusbaixes.cat/veusbaixes0_marcer.pdf]
'The Raval on Stage: Limits and Borders in Juan Mayorga’s Hamelin’ in Barcelona, Visual Space and Power, (eds.) H. Buffery and C. Caulfield, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2012, pp. 105-117.
‘Orígens anglosaxons en la ‘metonímia del desig’ de Gabriel Ferrater’ in Mélanges offerts au Professor Christian Camps, (Coord.) M. Bourret. Péronnas: Éditions de la Tour Gile, 2009, pp. 329-343.
‘‘Diálogo entre la luz y la oscuridad en la obra de Josep Palau i Fabre’ in El exilio: debate para la historia y la cultura, (Coord.) J.M. Ascunce, M. Jato y M.L. San Miguel, Deusto: Editorial Saturraran, 2008, pp. 209-221.
‘‘La voz extrañada’: intelectuales españoles en la BBC’ in España en la encrucijada de 1939: exilios, cultura e identidades, (eds.) M. Jato, J.A. Ascunce and M. San Miguel, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, 2007, pp. 305-311.
‘La creación de redes culturales en el exilio: el caso de la ‘Anglo-Catalan Society’, in Exilio y Universidad (1936-1955), (Coord.) J.Ángel Ascunce, M. Jato y M.L. San Miguel, Deusto: Editorial Saturraran, 2007, pp. 1166-1179.
‘Luis Cernuda como Puente entre la poesía inglesa y la ‘Escuela de Barcelona’’, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Vol. 11, Nos. 2-3, August/ December, 2005, pp. 189-196.
‘“La vida furtiva” de Gabriel Ferrater i el vers 138 de The Waste Land de T. S. Eliot: una operació de lectura entre dues línies estètiques’, Gabriel Ferrater, (eds.) Dolors Oller i Jaume Subirana ‘In Memoriam’, Barcelona: Columna, 2001, pp. 265-273.
Conference proceedings
‘Les relacions intel.lectuals entre Gabriel Ferrater i Anglaterra’ in Col.loqui Europeu d’Estudis Catalans. La recepció de la literatura catalana a Europa, (eds.) E. Trenc i M. Roser, Montpeller: Centre d’études et de recherches catalanes Université Montpellier III. AFC, 2004. pp. 115-152.
‘Gabriel Ferrater entre l’autoinvenció social i l’aportació estètica a través de G. Simmel i la poesia anglesa’ in Actes del Congrés Internacional ‘La projecció social de l’escriptor en la literatura catalana contemporània’, Barcelona/ Bellaterra, 26, 27 i 28 d’octubre de 2005’, (Coord.) R. Panyella, Saragossa: Punctum-Gelcc, 2007, pp. 517-52.