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Dr Elise Hugueny-Leger

Senior Lecturer

Phone

+44 (0)1334 46 3652

Email

esmh@st-andrews.ac.uk

Office

Room 405

Location

Buchanan

Office hours

On leave in Semester 1, 2026-27

 

Biography

I grew up and was schooled in France in non-selective state schools, the first generation in my family to attend University. After completing a joint Maîtrise d’anglais and Licence de Lettres Modernes in France, I moved to England in 2002 to work as a French language assistant. I did my PhD at Durham University (2004-2007) on the works of Annie Ernaux and joined the French Department at St ÌÇÐÄlogo in 2008.

Teaching

I teach French language, literature and culture at all levels. I offer the modules ‘Writing the Self in 20th and 21st-century French Literature’ (FR3078), ‘Intellectuals in Modern France’ (FR3080), 'Creative Writing in French' (FR4150) and ‘Good and Ads: Consumerism in Modern France’ (FR4182).

The team-taught module ‘Creative Writing in French’ offers an innovative approach to French language and literary creation for learners of French. This module was awarded a University Teaching Excellence Award and was shortlisted for a Times Higher Education award in the 'Excellence and Innovation in the Arts' category. It has led to the creation of a Creative Writing Dissertation option where students can develop a longer, original writing project under the guidance of a supervisor.

I also coordinate the Comparative Literature module ‘Autobiography and the Visual Arts’ (CO4021) and contribute actively to the School’s Comparative Literature programme.

Research areas

My research expertise falls broadly in two overlapping categories:

-Creative writing

My current research focuses on creative writing processes and workshops, and their impact on literary forms and contemporary representations of authorship. In , I make the case for the inclusion of creative writing in Language curricula to develop cross-lingual and cultural dialogues. In 2022-2023, I was the recipient of a Leverhulme International Fellowship at Cergy-Paris Université for a project entitled ‘Beyond the writing impulse: crafting creative writing research in French’. I have broad experience and formal training devising and running writing workshops for academic and non-academic audiences. My first book of creative writing non-fiction, came out with Editions °ä°ùé²¹±è³ó¾±²õ in 2024.

-Life-writing

I am more specifically interested in life-writing forms and processes (autobiography, autofiction, memoirs, diaries). I have published extensively on the works of the 2022 Nobel-prize literature laureate, Annie Ernaux. My monograph  (Peter lang, 2009) provides a detailed exploration of narrative strategies in her works, and emphasizes the interplay between self and others. I developed and run the bilingual website , have discussed Ernaux in various media and co-organised . My second monograph,  (Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 2022), opens up new avenues in life-writing criticism by examining dialogues between literature and the moving image in processes of self-representation, and media strategies at play in autofiction.

Other, broader interests encompass: the place of intellectuals in modern France; the rise of consumerism and its representation in artistic forms; women and their writings in contemporary French society; feminisms; transclass trajectories and social mobility. I co-edited the journal special issue (2019) and the volume  (2015).

I have supervised doctoral theses in French and in Comparative Literature on autofiction and gender; mourning in Serge Doubrovsky; time in contemporary fiction; female multilingual autofiction; abortion narratives. I welcome PhD applications on topics related to my research expertise.

PhD supervision

• Khaled Alhajahmed
• Ariana Serafinceanu

Selected publications

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 30 Mar 2026, In: Roman 20-50. 2025/1, 79, p. 49-65 16 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 23 Jun 2025, In: Contextes. Revue de sociologie de la littérature . 36

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 15 Nov 2025, In: Etudes françaises. 61, 2, p. 85-101

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Fort, P.-L. (Editor), Hugueny-Leger, E. (Editor) & Petitjean, A. (Editor), 15 Nov 2025, In: Etudes françaises. 61, 2, 140 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Special issue › peer-review

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 23 Jun 2025, In: Textimage. Summer 2025

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M. & Laugt, E. R., 30 Jul 2025, In: ¹ó°ù²¹²Ô³¦´Ç²õ±è³óè°ù±ð²õ. 14, 1, p. 23-40

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 1 Jan 2024, Contemporary literary criticism yearbook 2022. Leng, J. (ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, p. 51-88 38 p. (Gale contemporary literary criticism; vol. 528).

  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., Feb 2024, In: French Cultural Studies. 35, 1, p. 17-30 14 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access
  Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 25 Mar 2024, In: Modern Languages Open. 2024, 1, p. 1-16 16 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Hugueny-Leger, E. S. M., 1 Aug 2024, Grâne: °ä°ùé²¹±è³ó¾±²õ. 184 p. (Format passeport)

  Research output: Book/Report › Book