Dr Irene Morra
Overview
Telephone: +44(0)29 208 75662
Extension: 75662
Location: John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cathays, Cardiff
Research Group
English Literature / Critical and Cultural Theory / Cultural Criticism
Research Interests
Modern and contemporary drama; modernist literature; literature and music; literature and film; adaptation studies; Victorian novel; Southern Gothic; popular music; Renaissance drama.
I am happy to supervise projects in the above areas.
I particularly welcome projects that are interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary in nature. Informal enquiries welcome.
Selected Publications
Books
Twentieth-Century British Authors and the Rise of Opera in Britain. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
Articles
“Musical Detection and Novelistic Tradition.” The Idea of Music in Victorian Fiction. Ed. Nicky Losseff and Sophie Fuller. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004. 151-170.
“Performing the Edwardian Ideal: David Mamet and The Winslow Boy.” Modern Drama 48.4 (2005): 744-757.
“Wilkie Collins, George Eliot, and Italian Opera.” Essays in Criticism 57.3 (2007): 217-236.
“Modernist Literary Instincts and the Operatic Ideal.” Modernist Cultures 3.2 (2007).
“Constructing Camelot: Britain and the New World Musical.” Contemporary Theatre Review 19.1 (2009): 22-34.
Publications
Books
Twentieth-Century British Authors and the Rise of Opera in Britain. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
Articles
“‘A Song Not Without Words’: Singing Billy Budd.” Literature and Musical Adaptation. Ed. Mike Meyer. New York: Rodopi, 2002. 7-27.
“Musical Detection and Novelistic Tradition.” The Idea of Music in Victorian Fiction. Ed. Nicky Losseff and Sophie Fuller. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004. 151-170.
“Performing the Edwardian Ideal: David Mamet and The Winslow Boy.” Modern Drama 48.4 (2005): 744-757.
“Wilkie Collins, George Eliot, and Italian Opera.” Essays in Criticism 57.3 (2007): 217-236.
“Modernist Literary Instincts and the Operatic Ideal.” Modernist Cultures 3.2 (2007).
http://www.js-modcult.bham.ac.uk/index.asp
“Constructing Camelot: Britain and the New World Musical.” Contemporary Theatre Review 19.1 (2009): 22-34.
"Outstaring the Sun: Contemporary Opera and the Literary Librettist." Contemporary Music Review 29.2 (2010): 121-135.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Elizabeth Cary”; “Dorothy L. Sayers”; “Muriel Spark.” Catholic Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook. Ed. Mary R. Reichardt. Westport: Greenwood, 2001.
“Musical Biography.” Encyclopedia of Life Writing. Ed. Margaretta Jolly. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.
“Ludwig van Beethoven”; “Domenico Scarlatti”; “Phillip Telemann.” Biographical Dictionary of Enlightenment and Revolution, 1690-1815. Ed. Kevin Dodson. Westport: Greenwood, 2001.
“Ronald Duncan.” The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. Ed.Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.
“Drama in England, 1940-2002.” The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. Ed.Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.
“Opera Libretti in Translation.” Oxford History of Literary Translation in English. Ed. Lawrence Venuti. Vol.5. Oxford: Oxford UP. Forthcoming 2010.
Reviews
“Review of Mansfield Park.” Scope: An Online Refereed Journal of Film Studies August 2001.
“Review of Michael Kater, Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits.” University of Toronto Quarterly 71.1 (2001/2002): 330-332.
“Review of The Importance of Being Earnest.” Scope: An Online Refereed Journal of Film Studies May 2003.
The Brontës in the World of the Arts, ed. Sandra Hagan and Juliette Wells. University of Toronto Quarterly. Forthcoming 2010.
Research
My current research focuses on nationalism and British national aesthetics in literature, drama, and music. I am currently working on two monograph projects:
The New Elizabethan: Defining British Drama.
Britishness in Music: From Britten to Britpop.
I also research and publish articles on modern drama, Victorian literature, modernist literature, popular music, and the modern opera libretto.
I teach undergraduate modules on Shakespeare; John Donne; the Victorian novel; literature of the American South; modern and contemporary drama; literature and film; the film musical; music and nationalisms. My MA teaching focuses on drama and on adaptation across literary genres, periods, and disciplines.
Biography
Teaching Interests
I studied English Literature, Musicology, and French Literature at the University of Toronto. I received an MA in English Literature from Queen’s University, and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Toronto. I joined Cardiff University in 2004.
I teach on the BA in English Literature, the BA in Cultural Criticism, and the MA in English Literature.
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