Staff profile

I studied French and Philosophy at Christ Church, University of Oxford, and went on to complete a PhD on French Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, in 2011. I then spent a year back at Christ Church as a Temporary Lecturer, and three semesters at the University of St Andrews as a Teaching Fellow and Lecturer, before arriving in Durham in January 2014. 

My research focuses on nineteenth-century French literature, especially poetry. I am interested primarily in questions of exoticism and nationalism. I recently completed my first monograph, Laforgue, Philosophy, and Ideas of Otherness, which deals with the reception of German philosophy in the work of the late nineteenth-century French poet Jules Laforgue and the importance to this reception of contemporary discourses that cast Germany as 'other'. I have also co-edited (with Dr Claire White, Cambridge) a Special Issue of Dix-Neuf, the journal of the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes, on Laforgue.

In 2016 I completed a two-month fellowship at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, to begin work on a new project dealing with the reception of Buddhist thought in nineteenth-century France. 

Authored book

• Laforgue, Philosophy, and Ideas of Otherness
  Bootle, S. (2018). Laforgue, Philosophy, and Ideas of Otherness. Legenda

Chapter in book

• Jules Laforgue: Derniers vers
  Bootle, S. (2012). Jules Laforgue: Derniers vers. In R. Clark, E. Elliott, & J. Todd (Eds.), The Literary Encyclopedia
• Jules Laforgue: Les Complaintes
  Bootle, S. (2011). Jules Laforgue: Les Complaintes. In R. Clark, E. Elliott, & J. Todd (Eds.), The Literary Encyclopedia

Conference Paper

• Sea Sponges, Polyps and Mechanical Fish: the Decadent Aquarium. Modern Language Association Annual Convention 2014 in Chicago, USA.
  Bootle, S. (2014, December). Sea Sponges, Polyps and Mechanical Fish: the Decadent Aquarium. Modern Language Association Annual Convention 2014 in Chicago, USA. Presented at Modern Language Association Annual Convention 2014, Chicago, USA
• The Underwater World, Underground: Laforgue and Huysmans on the Berlin Aquarium. Society for French Studies Annual Conference at Nottingham University
  Bootle, S. (2013, December). The Underwater World, Underground: Laforgue and Huysmans on the Berlin Aquarium. Society for French Studies Annual Conference at Nottingham University. Presented at Society for French Studies Annual Conference 2013, Nottingham, England
• Le Nihilisme oriental: Buddhism in Nineteenth-Century French Literature. St Andrews French Research Seminar at St Andrews University
  Bootle, S. (2012, December). Le Nihilisme oriental: Buddhism in Nineteenth-Century French Literature. St Andrews French Research Seminar at St Andrews University. Presented at St Andrews French Research Seminar, St Andrews, Scotland
• The Discourse of Disease: Laforgue's Reception of Schopenhauer. Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 9th Annual Conference at Birmingham University
  Bootle, S. (2011, December). The Discourse of Disease: Laforgue's Reception of Schopenhauer. Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 9th Annual Conference at Birmingham University. Presented at Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 9th Annual Conference, Birmingham, England
• Genius and the Unconscious: Laforgue's Reception of Hartmannian Aesthetics. Oxford French Postgraduate Seminar at Oxford University
  Bootle, S. (2010, December). Genius and the Unconscious: Laforgue's Reception of Hartmannian Aesthetics. Oxford French Postgraduate Seminar at Oxford University. Presented at Oxford French Postgraduate Seminar, Oxford, England
• Laforgue's 'Afrique Intérieure': A Vital Chaos? Society of Dix-Neuviémistes Postgraduate Conference
  Bootle, S. (2010, December). Laforgue's 'Afrique Intérieure': A Vital Chaos? Society of Dix-Neuviémistes Postgraduate Conference. Presented at Society of Dix-Neuviémistes Postgraduate Conference
• Jules Laforgue and the Illusion of Spontaneity. Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 8th Annual Conference at Bangor University
  Bootle, S. (2010, December). Jules Laforgue and the Illusion of Spontaneity. Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 8th Annual Conference at Bangor University. Presented at Society of Dix-Neuviémistes 8th Annual Conference, Bangor, Wales
• Laforgue's Reading of Schopenhauer in its Cultural Context. Cambridge French Graduate Research Seminar at Cambridge University
  Bootle, S. (2009, December). Laforgue's Reading of Schopenhauer in its Cultural Context. Cambridge French Graduate Research Seminar at Cambridge University. Presented at Cambridge French Graduate Research Seminar, Cambridge, England

Journal Article

• 'Plongée poétique : Rimbaud, Laforgue, et Vingt mille lieues sous les mers'
  Bootle, S. (2019). 'Plongée poétique : Rimbaud, Laforgue, et Vingt mille lieues sous les mers'. Parade sauvage, 29, 133-153. https://doi.org/10.15122/isbn.978-2-406-09038-0.p.0133
• Laforgue et le bouddhisme dilettante
  Bootle, S. (2017). Laforgue et le bouddhisme dilettante. Revue d'histoire littéraire de la France, 117(2), 273-282. https://doi.org/10.15122/isbn.978-2-406-06928-7.p.0017
• The Body Poetic: Laforgue's Translations of Whitman
  Bootle, S. (2016). The Body Poetic: Laforgue's Translations of Whitman. Dix-Neuf: New Directions in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 20(1), 25-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/14787318.2016.1141848
• Introduction: Jules Laforgue, 'un carrefour d'échos'
  Bootle, S., & White, C. (2016). Introduction: Jules Laforgue, 'un carrefour d'échos'. Dix-Neuf: New Directions in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 20(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/14787318.2016.1145927
• Jules Laforgue and the Illusion of Spontaneity
  Bootle, S. (2011). Jules Laforgue and the Illusion of Spontaneity. Dix-Neuf: New Directions in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, 15(2), 166-176. https://doi.org/10.1179/147873111x13113768737118