Dr Elisenda Marcer Cortés PhD

• Catalan Language and Culture I
• Catalan Language and Literature II
• Advanced Catalan Language IV
• Barcelona, Urban Space and Cultural Identity
• Constructing Communities in the Catalan Speaking Territories
• The Sublime and the Grotesque in Catalan
• Catalan Culture Project

I am currently co-supervising a PhD on Translating National Identity, the Reception of Catalan Literature in English.

Find out more - our PhD Hispanic Studies  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

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).

Other research grants I have received:

• Leverhulme Trust Research Grant (2016-19) - Co-Investigator (CI), Inner and Outer Exile in Fascist Germany and Spain: A Comparative Study. PI: Prof John Klapper (University of Birmingham).
• Ministerio de Economía y y competitividad I+D Ref. FFI2015-65110-P (2015-18) - Co-Investigator (CI), New Subjectivities in Contemporary Catalan Production. PI: Dr M. Pons (Universitat Illes Balears).
• Universitat Illes Balears Research Leave Grant (Oct-Dec, 2015) - Visiting Researcher.

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:
• 2017 – Home Secretary for the organization of the LXIII Anglo-Catalan Society Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, Nov 2017.
• 2016 – Co-organiser: ‘Line Word and Gesture: Visualising Thinking in the Hispanic World’, University of Birmingham, Sept 2016.
• 2013 – Co-organiser of 'III Basque Catalan and Galician Cinema Season', 9th, 16th and 23rd May at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. The Catalan session with the co-producer Gonzalo Bendala 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).
• 2012 – Co-organiser of ‘II Basque Catalan and Galician Cinema Season’, 2^nd, 9^th and 16^th 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.