Tabitha Rowland
The Female Network: Gossip in the Life and Works of Elizabeth Bowen
Biography
I completed both my BA and my MA in English Literature at the University of Liverpool. My MA dissertation focused on the understudied novel Vain Shadow by Jane Hervey alongside Bowen's unpublished ghost stories to show how they speak to a wider cultural disillusionment with femininity. In particular, how the symbols and rituals associated with the dead can indicate cultural movement away or towards certain ideals.
Research Interests
My current research focuses on how gossip works as both a literary device within novels and its functions in the real life of Elizabeth Bowen and her networks. My aim is to demonstrate that gossip is essential in the formation and potential destruction of identities and communities, as well as highlighting its influences on our own perception of contemporary culture.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabitha-rowland/