Bourse doctorale: lauréat 2020

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Marc Olivier-Loiseau

My doctoral thesis examines the morphosyntax of a subclass of pronouns (clitics) in Old French. I am interested in their position with regards to infinitives, a context that remains under-documented. We observe a series of differences with other Romance languages: for instance, Spanish and Italian have the order infinitive-clitic, whereas Modern French shows clitic-infinitive. Assuming that clitics appeared during the common Proto-Romance stage, I seek to situate in time when French branched off from the Spanish/Italian ordering. More generally, I look into how clitic placement evolved in French from the earliest records we have. 

Marc Olivier-Loiseau, Ulster University 

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Supervision: Dr Christina Sevdali and Prof Raffaella Folli

Bourse doctorale - lauréate 2019

Emma Dunne

My thesis considers the key eighteenth-century theme of happiness in Isabelle de Charrière’s complete works, examining her idiosyncratic vision of, and approach to, happiness, through analysis of her novels, plays, and personal correspondence. Specifically, my thesis addresses the pursuit of happiness in Charrière's writings, focusing on obstacles encountered in its pursuit, such as marriage, societal conventions, and the French Revolution and its related exile, while also addressing the many opportunities for happiness as elucidated in her works, notably through friendship, writing, and musical endeavours. While my thesis reveals Charrière's perspectives on happiness, it also serves to situate Charrière and her ideas on happiness within the wider debates on happiness in the eighteenth-century French narrative.