Professor Lynne Pearce

Professor

Research Interests

Lynne Pearce arrived at Lancaster in 1990/1, having gained her PhD from the University of Birmingham in 1987. Whilst studying for her PhD, and in the years immediately following, she worked part-time across of wide-range of further and higher educational establishments in the West Midlands, and then - for one year - in the English Department at the University of Durham. This apprenticeship remains vitally important to the values she attaches to Higher Education and to her recognition of the challenges faced by graduate students embarking on an academic career.

Lynne Pearce's teaching and research have been mainly in the field of feminist literary and cultural theory, but with wide-ranging historical and disciplinary applications. Particular thematic concerns have been in 'the politics of reading', feminist re-scriptings of romance, national / regional literature(s) and identities within the UK and mobilities research. Her most recent books are:

  • Romance Writing (Polity, 2007).
  • Postcolonial Manchester: Diaspora Space and the Devolution of Literary Culture [with Corinne Fowler and Robert Crawshaw] (Manchester University Press,2013).
  • Drivetime: Literary Excursions in Automotive Consciousness (Edinburgh University Press, 2016).

Romance Writing surveys the changing expression of romantic love from the seventeenth century to the present day; Postcolonial Manchester investigates the ways in which Manchester’s polycultural writing scene challenges popular stereotypes of the city at the same time as contributing to the ‘devolution’ of contemporary British literature; Drivetime contributes to topical debates in automobilities research by investigating the cognitive and affective experience of driving (and 'passengering') through close readings of literary texts from across the twentieth century.

In terms of teaching and administration, Lynne Pearce’s work has centred on the postgraduate community. From 1997-2001 she was Director of Postgraduate Studies in the English Department and, in that capacity, was responsible for initiating a good deal of the research methods training now available both within the Department and the Faculty. From 2001-2003 she was Associate Dean for Postgraduate Teaching in the Humanities and from 2004 she has been one of the core tutors of the Faculty's PGR Research Training Programme [RTP]. From 2009/10-12/13 she also served another term as Director of Posgraduate Studies in the Department of English and Creative Writing. She has now supervised 36 PhD students to successful completion and remains committed to improving the postgraduate student experience.

Funded Research:

From 2006-2010 Lynne Pearce was Principal Investigator for the AHRC-funded project 'Moving Manchester: How the experience of migration has informed the work of writers from Greater Manchester from 1960-to the present' (see website at www.transculturalwriting.com). Project outputs included: an e-catalogue, an online ‘Writers’ Gallery’, and over 50 publications (creative and critical) all of which are listed on the ‘Moving Manchester’ website.

Networks and Associations:

  • IASPR (The International Association for Popular Romance Studies) [also Board member]
  • The Memory Network
  • The LOVE-RESEARCH Network

Principal publications include:

Woman/Image/Text: Readings in Pre-Raphaelite Art & Literature (Harvester-Wheatsheaf, 1991)

Reading Dialogics (Edward Arnold, 1994)

Feminism and the Politics of Reading (Arnold, 1997)

Devolving Identies: Feminist Readings in Home and Belonging (ed.) (2000)

The Rhetorics of Feminism (Routledge, 2004)

Romance Writing (Polity, 2007)

Postcolonial Manchester: Diaspora Space and the Devolution of Literary Culture [with Corinne Fowler and Robert Crawshaw] (Manchester University Press, 2013)

Drivetime: Literary Excursions in Automotive Consciousness (Edinburgh Universtiy Press, 2016).

Affiliations at Lancaster:

During her time at Lancaster, Lynne Pearce has been centrally involved with the teaching, research and research activities emanating from the Institute for Gender and Women's Studies, and is co-editor, with Maureen McNeil, of the series Transformations: Thinking Through Feminism (see Routledge website for further details). She is thus more than happy to act as a point of contact for people interested in the work of the Institute or, indeed, in research projects which might involve colleagues in both English and Women's Studies.

In 2011 she became a founding member of the Centre for Transcultural Writing and Research (see www.transculturalwriting.com) whose website is also the archival home for the 'Moving Manchester' project).

She joined the advisory board of CeMoRe [Centre for Mobilties Research] in 2014/15 and was appointed Director for the Humanities in August 2015 (see CeMoRe website for full details of the Centre and its activities). In this capacity, Lynne has also recently become of co-editor of the new Palgrave Macmillan (USA) series, Mobilities, Literature, Culture, and welcomes proposals from colleagues interested in publishing in this field.

'Walking-Out': The Mobilities of Love
Pearce, L. 8/09/2018 In: Mobilities. 32 p.
Journal article

Trackless Mourning: The Mobilities of Love and Loss
Pearce, L. 13/08/2018 In: cultural geographies.
Journal article

Mobility, Memory and the Lifecourse in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture
Pearce, L. 19/04/2018 New York : Palgrave. 230 p.
Book

Feminism and Women's Writing: An Introduction
Riley, C., Pearce, L. 31/03/2018 Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press. 204 p. ISBN: 9781474415606. Electronic ISBN: 9781474415620.
Book

Mobility and the Humanities
Pearce, L., Merriman, P. 5/01/2018 London and New York : Routledge. 143 p. ISBN: 9780815377450.
Book

Driving-as-Event: Rethinking the Car Journey
Pearce, L. 08/2017 In: Mobilities. 12, 4, p. 585-597. 13 p.
Journal article

Mobility and the Humanities
Merriman, P., Pearce, L. 08/2017 In: Mobilities. 12, 4, 16 p.
Editorial

Mobility and the Humanities
Pearce, L., Merriman, P. 08/2017 In: Mobilities. 12, 4
Special issue

Drivetime: literary excursions in automotive consciousness
Pearce, L. 31/07/2016 Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press. 229 p. ISBN: 9780748690848. Electronic ISBN: 9780748690862.
Book

Love's schema and correction: a queer twist on a general principle
Pearce, L. 15/07/2016 In: Journal of Popular Romance Studies. 5, 2, p. 1-18. 18 p.
Journal article

A motor-flight through early Twentieth-Century consciousness: capturing the driving event 1905-1935
Pearce, L. 2014 In: Researching and representing mobilities. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan p. 78-98. 21 p. ISBN: 9781137346650.
Chapter

Autopia: what we’re thinking when we’re driving
Pearce, L. 11/2013 In: Writing otherwise. Manchester : Manchester University Press p. 92-105. 14 p. ISBN: 9780719089428.
Chapter

Postcolonial Manchester: diaspora space and the devolution of literary culture
Pearce, L., Fowler, C., Crawshaw, R. 1/06/2013 Manchester : Manchester University Press. 304 p. ISBN: 9780719088155.
Book

Cinemas of displacement and destitution
Pearce, L. 1/09/2012 In: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies. 14, 3, 174 p.
Special issue

Something is missing
Pearce, L. 1/09/2012 In: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies. 14, 3, p. 329-340. 12 p.
Journal article

The literary response to Moss Side, Manchester: fact or (genre) fiction?
Pearce, L. 06/2012 In: The Literary North. London : Palgrave Macmillan p. 220-239. 20 p. ISBN: 9780230367404.
Chapter

Automobility in Manchester Fiction
Pearce, L. 2012 In: Mobilities. 7, 1, p. 93-113. 21 p.
Journal article

Romance, Trauma and Repetition: Testing the Limits of Love
Pearce, L. 2012 In: Trauma and Romance in Contemporary British Literature. London : Routledge p. n/a. ISBN: 9780415661072 .
Chapter

The urban imaginary: writing, migration, place
Pearce, L. 2012 In: Mobilities. 7, 1, 11 p.
Editorial

Romance and repetition: testing the limits of love
Pearce, L. 12/09/2011 In: Journal of Popular Romance Studies. 3, 1, 14 p.
Journal article

The arts of migration: art, politics and participatory action research
Pearce, L., O'Neill, M. 1/09/2011 In: Crossings: The Journal of Migration and Culture. 2, 1
Special issue

The arts of migration
Pearce, L., O'Neill, M. 29/06/2011 In: Crossings: The Journal of Migration and Culture. 2, 1, p. 3-11. 9 p.
Journal article

Writing and region in the twenty-first century: epistemological reflections on regionally-located art and literature in the wake of the digital revolution
Pearce, L. 1/02/2010 In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 13, 1, p. 27-41. 15 p.
Journal article

The Construction of Regional Identity in Europe and Beyond
Pearce, L., Wodak, R. 02/2010 In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 13, 1, 7 p.
Editorial

'Writing' and 'Region' in the 21st Century: Epistemological Reflections of Regionally-located Art and Literature in the Wake of the Digital Revolution
Pearce, L., Wodak, R. 2010 In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 13, 1
Special issue

(Re)constructing the region in the 21st Century
Pearce, L., Wodak, R. 2010 In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 13, 1, p. 3-8. 6 p.
Journal article

Beyond redemption?: mobilizing affect in feminist reading
Pearce, L. 2010 In: Working with affect in feminist readings. London : Routledge p. 151-164. 14 p. ISBN: 9780415481397.
Chapter

Women writers and the elusive urban sublime: the view from 'Manchester, England'
Pearce, L. 1/07/2007 In: Contemporary Women's Writing. 1, 1-2, p. 80-97. 18 p.
Journal article

After the Twilight: Intimacy and its Demise in Late Twentieth-Century Lesbian Romance.
Pearce, L. 2007 In: After Intimacy: The Culture of Divorce in the West since 1789. Peter Lang (Oxford) 215 p. ISBN: 978-3-03910-143-6.
Chapter

How to examine a thesis
Pearce, L. 1/08/2006 Basingstoke : Open University Press. 136 p. ISBN: 9780335214426.
Book

Moving Manchester : relocating diaspora research.
Pearce, L., Fowler, C. 2006 In: International Journal of the Humanities. 4, 6, p. 93-100. 8 p.
Journal article

Romance Writing.
Pearce, L. 2006 Polity Press. ISBN: 0-7456-3005-7.
Book

The Rhetorics of Feminism: Readings in Contemporary Cultural Theory and the Popular Press.
Pearce, L. 2004 Routledge. ISBN: 0-415-28183-0.
Book

Jaz - bralka : besidilo, sobesidilo in ravnovesje moci. [translation of part of book into Slovenian]
Pearce, L. 10/2003 In: Apokalipsa. 72, p. 63-73. 11 p.
Journal article

The Place of Literature in the Spaces of Belonging.
Pearce, L. 08/2002 In: European Journal of Cultural Studies. 5, 3, p. 275-291. 17 p.
Journal article

The viewer as producer : British and Canadian feminists reading Prudence Heward's 'Women'.
Pearce, L. 2001 In: RACAR: Revue d'Art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review. xxv, 1-2, p. 94-102. 9 p.
Journal article

Devolutionary desires.
Pearce, L. 2000 In: De-centring sexualities : politics and representations beyond the metropolis.. London : Routledge p. 241-257. 17 p. ISBN: 9780415194662.
Chapter

Devolving identities : feminist readings in home and belonging.
Pearce, L. 2000 London : Ashgate. 246 p. ISBN: 0754600742.
Book

Romance as genre.
Pearce, L. 2000 In: Encyclopaedia of feminist theories. London; New York : Routledge 530 p. ISBN: 0415308852.
Chapter

Another time, another place: the chronotope of romantic love in contemporary women's fiction
Pearce, L. 1/05/1998 In: Fatal attractions. London : Pluto Press p. 98-111. 14 p. ISBN: 9780745313863.
Chapter

The emotional politics of reading Winterson
Pearce, L. 1/05/1998 In: I'm telling you stories. Amsterdam : Rodopi p. 29-39. 11 p. ISBN: 9789042003408.
Chapter

Fatal Attractions: Re-Scripting Romance in Contemporary Literature and Film
Pearce, L., Wisker, G. 1998 London : Pluto Press. 224 p. ISBN: 9780745313863.
Book

Feminism and the Politics of Reading
Pearce, L. 1997 London : Hodder Arnold. 274 p. ISBN: 9780340700624.
Book

Feminist readings/feminists reading
Mills, S., Pearce, L. 1/09/1996 2nd ed. ed. Hemel Hempstead : Harvester Wheatsheaf. 322 p. ISBN: 9780133753950.
Book

Feminist Readings / Feminists Reading
Mills, S., Pearce, L. 1996 2nd ed. New York : Harvester Wheatsheaf. 432 p. ISBN: 0133753956.
Book

Finding a place from which to write: the methodology of feminist textual practice
Pearce, L. 1/09/1995 In: Feminist cultural theory. Manchester : Manchester University Press p. 81-96. 16 p. ISBN: 9780719044700.
Chapter

Written on tablets of stone: Roland Barthes, Jeanette Winterson and the discourse of romantic love
Pearce, L. 1/09/1995 In: Volcanoes and pearl divers. London : Onlywomen Press p. 81-96. 16 p. ISBN: 9780906500484.
Chapter

Romance Revisited
Pearce, L., Stacey, J. 1995 New York University Press. 310 p. ISBN: 9780814766309 .
Book

Pre-Raphaelite painting and the female spectator: Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 'The Beloved'
Pearce, L. 1/09/1994 In: Gendering the reader. Hemel Hempstead : Harvester Wheatsheaf p. 155-172. 18 p. ISBN: 9780745011295.
Chapter

Reading as autobiography
Pearce, L. 1/07/1994 In: Changing our lives. London : Pluto Press p. 159-169. 11 p. ISBN: 9780845307527.
Chapter

'I the reader': text, context and the balance of power
Pearce, L. 1/05/1994 In: Feminist subjects, multi-media. Manchester : Manchester University Press ISBN: 9780719041808.
Chapter

Reading Dialogics
Pearce, L. 1994 London : Hodder Arnold. 221 p. ISBN: 9780340550526.
Book

Women's writing and dialogic theory
Pearce, L. 1/07/1992 In: Working out. London : Falmer Press ISBN: 9780750700436.
Chapter

John Clare's 'Child Harold': the road not taken
Pearce, L. 1/09/1991 In: Feminist Criticism:. Hemel-Hempstead : Harvester Wheatsheaf p. 143-156. 13 p. ISBN: 9780802069245.
Chapter

Woman/Image/Text: Readings in Pre-Raphaelite Art and Literature
Pearce, L. 1991 Prentice Hall. 161 p. ISBN: 0802069126 .
Book

Feminist readings/feminists reading
Mills, S., Pearce, L., Spaull, S., Millard, E. 1/09/1989 Hemel Hempstead : Harvester Wheatsheaf. 268 p. ISBN: 9780710812421.
Book

John Clare's 'Child Harold': a polyphonic reading
Pearce, L. 1/04/1989 In: Criticism: A quarterly for literature and the arts. 31, 2, p. 139-157. 19 p.
Journal article