The reproduction of violence in the works of Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphaël Confiant

This thesis compares the reproduction of violence in the fictional writings of two contemporary Martinican authors, Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphaël Confiant. While existing scholarship provides significant examinations of both authors individually, this study builds on these foundations to carry out the first single extensive comparison of Chamoiseau and Confiant’s novels. Chamoiseau and Confiant’s literary and political movement of créolité has been the basis of much critical attention in recent years but the theme of the representation of violence in their novels remains relatively unexplored. This thesis explores how – and even whether – fiction can be a way of coming to terms with the brutal violence of their past. This study therefore examines – through close textual analysis – the literary strategies employed by the authors in their representation of the origins of the Antilles in order to address the painful, difficult issues arising out of these origins. In its comparative approach to the authors and in its focus on the reproduction of violence, this study makes two original contributions to the study of Antillean literature. In the Introduction, I outline the tensions surrounding the process of writing in the Antilles. Within this specific historical context the figure of the writer – real or imaginary – becomes a complex and difficult one, as it is clear that the violence of the colonial past continues to affect the authors and their writing. In the first chapter, I therefore return to those same brutal origins of the Antilles, examining how they are constructed in the author’s fiction. Chamoiseau and Confiant imply that the violence of the past acts as a mechanism of oppression. Drawing on colonial theory, the next chapter explores closely how this mechanism is represented in the author’s fictional work as a repetition of the original violence and one that continues to structure Antillena society, and from which no escape seems possible

Developing online resources on statistics and data handling for medical science students

Peer reviewe

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’: reflecting on, and refracting through, academic development in a pandemic year

Using a creative and playful fairy-tale storyboard approach this paper explores the impact of the pandemic, the move to online and blended learning, and the role academic development can have in the future of learning and teaching. We refract academic staff experiences of teaching during the pandemic through our own experiences as academic developers during this time. We conclude that a balancing act is required to sustain the influence gained in the pandemic whilst retaining the signature pedagogy of playfulness that underpins our work

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’: reflecting on, and refracting through, academic development in a pandemic year

Using a creative and playful fairy-tale storyboard approach this paper explores the impact of the pandemic, the move to online and blended learning, and the role academic development can have in the future of learning and teaching. We refract academic staff experiences of teaching during the pandemic through our own experiences as academic developers during this time. We conclude that a balancing act is required to sustain the influence gained in the pandemic whilst retaining the signature pedagogy of playfulness that underpins our work

The developing juvenile talus:Radiographic identification of distinct ontogenetic phases and structural trajectories

Trabecular bone architecture in the developing skeleton is a widely researched area of bone biomechanics; however, despite its significance in weight-bearing locomotion, the developing talus has received limited examination. This study investigates the talus with the purpose of identifying ontogenetic phases and developmental patterns that contribute to the growing understanding of the developing juvenile skeleton. Colour gradient mapping and radiographic absorptiometry were utilised to investigate 62 human tali from 38 individuals, ranging in age-at-death from 28 weeks intrauterine to 20 years of age. The perinatal talus exhibited a rudimentary pattern comparable to the structural organisation observed within the late adolescent talus. This early internal organisation is hypothesised to be related to the vascular pattern of the talus. After 2 years of age, the talus demonstrated refinement, where radiographic trajectories progressively developed into patterns consistent with adult trabecular organisation, which are linked to the forces associated with the bipedal gait, suggesting a strong influence of biomechanical forces on the development of the talus.</p

Modelling post-stroke depression : a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies.

Peer reviewedPreprin

Therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles in preclinical stroke models : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Funding: This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Prize Fellowship grant EP/N509565/1 and EPSRC and Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine studentship grant EP/L014904/1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD