Dr Lucy-Anne Katgely

Dr Lucy-Anne Katgely

College Lecturer in French

Biography

I came to my current post at 好色先生TV鈥檚 College by way of a winding (and wonderfully multilingual) path through English departments in France and Modern Languages in the UK. During my PhD, I taught English and American literature at the University of Strasbourg, then held lectrice positions in Bath and Oxford. A permanent lectureship in English literature at Universit茅 Clermont Auvergne followed, but I was ultimately tempted back to Britain for personal reasons and, perhaps, a lingering fondness for Georgian terraces.

Teaching

At Oxford, I focus on French language and translation, guiding students through the glorious chaos of bilingual thought. I teach French across all year groups, covering Essay and Prose translation, Oral, Summary, and Grammar.
For me, teaching is a lively conversation that moves between languages, cultures, and centuries. Over the years, I鈥檝e taught English and American literature (primarily eighteenth-century and later), translation both from and into French, year-abroad preparation, and language at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Teaching students who share a love of literature and languages is one of the greatest joys of my work. I鈥檓 committed to supporting them through every challenge along the way, always happy to offer an empathetic ear or a well-timed dose of perspective. I have a particular fondness for students who don鈥檛 always feel entirely 鈥渁t home鈥 in academic spaces, and I value creating a classroom where curiosity, kindness, and individuality thrive.

Research Interests

I work at the intersection of late eighteenth-century British women鈥檚 writing, gender studies, and literary obscurity--a space where forgotten voices often whisper the loudest. My research investigates how women navigated the constraints of authorship, exploring the cultural significance of literary anonymity and, in particular, the curious persistence of the signature 鈥渂y a lady鈥 in fiction of the 1780s and beyond. My PhD examined a constellation of novels united under this pseudonym and modelled on the works of Frances Burney, tracing how anonymity could function both as a shield and a subtle form of resistance. It also uncovered an early network of women authors, a kind of literary sorority whose collective endeavours helped shape the artistic voice of Sarah Harriet Burney (Frances鈥檚 half-sister).
More broadly, my work engages with the gendered politics of literary memory: who is remembered, who is forgotten, and how cultural authority continues to be negotiated along gendered lines. I aim to bring these neglected voices back into view, ideally with empathy, curiosity, and the occasional raised eyebrow at the paradoxes of literary fame.

Recent Publications

  • 鈥淧roies et pr茅dateurs: T茅moignages de harc猫lements sexuels dans la litt茅rature sentimentale britannique de la fin du XVIIIe si猫cle.鈥 脡crire l鈥檋istoire du harc猫lement sexuel sur la longue dur茅e, ed. A. Dubois-Nayt and R. Hamus-Vall茅e, L鈥橦armattan, 2024.
  • 鈥淪anitising the Novel: Ambivalence and Continuity in Eighteenth-Century Feminocentric Fictions.鈥 In Charlotte Lennox: The Female Quixote, ed. C. Berton猫che and A. Braida, Ellipses, 2023.
  • 鈥淗茅ritage des romans 鈥榖y a lady鈥: de l鈥櫭ヽole Burney 脿 l鈥檌d茅ologie romantique.鈥 Hypoth猫ses, 2022.
  • 鈥淭reading in Camilla鈥檚 Footsteps? Oneiric Experience and Women鈥檚 Voices in Julia de Vienne (by a lady, 1811) and Tales of Fancy (Sarah Harriet Burney, 1816鈥1820).鈥 In Dream and Literary Creation in Women鈥檚 Writings in the 18th鈥19th Centuries, ed. I. Hervouet and A. Rouhette, Anthem Press, 2021.

Awards and Distinctions

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA, 2024)
  • Conference Prize, Burney Society UK Conference, University of Greenwich (June 2024), for the paper 鈥淕ender-Bending Heroism: Sarah Harriet Burney鈥檚 Narrative Exploration.鈥
  • Early-Career Bursary, BSECS Annual Conference, St Hugh鈥檚 College, Oxford (January 2023), for 鈥溾楾hese Deep-Rooted Prejudices Should Not Be Cherished鈥: Virtuous, Wicked, and Vulgar (N)ever-Married Women in Sarah Harriet Burney鈥檚 Fiction.鈥