Carla Robison

Please tell us about your research project.

My PhD thesis focuses on narratives of illegal abortion in four western countries (France, Italy, the UK and the US) from 1920 until the legalisation of abortion in the 1960s and 1970s. I am interested in the way literature can help us grasp the variety of experiences of illegal abortion across different political contexts. Over the course of those decades, literary works both reflected and contributed to the changing representations of abortion, from a population control issue to a women’s rights one. Therefore, I aim at showing that the narrative choices behind abortion plots are not neutral but instead produce significant political effects.

The purpose of my research stay at the Maison Française d’Oxford is to access sources that were unavailable to me in France. A significant number of works I am studying haven’t been republished since they originally came out, which makes them very difficult to find today. In many cases, only national libraries have kept copies. The Bodleian’s rich collections and the proximity to London and the British Library are thus essential in allowing me to work on these texts, especially those pertaining to my British corpus. 

Could you please tell us more about your scholarship/exchange programme?

 My research stay has been funded by my university (Sorbonne Université), as well as through the Walter-Zellidja scholarship from the Académie Française. I am very grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to conduct my research in optimal conditions during this four-month stay in Oxford.

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

Oxford has surprised me a lot. I was not expecting such lush nature: walking in Port Meadow, University Park or the gardens at Lady Margaret Hall is very relaxing and helps refresh the mind between readings!