Fraser McQueen

Profile

Dr Fraser McQueen, FHEA is a lecturer in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Leeds, having previously held positions as a lecturer and postdoctoral research fellow at the Universities of Bristol, Edinburgh, and Stirling. He completed his PhD, entitled 'Race, Religion, and Communities of Friendship: Contemporary French Islamophobia in Literature and Film' in November 2021, with cross-institutional supervision from the Universities of Stirling and Aberdeen. His first monograph, which explores Islamophobia and community in contemporary France through a corpus of twelve literary and filmic texts, is currently under contract with Liverpool University Press.

Research interests

Fraser’s research interests are inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship from literary theory, history, film studies, sociology, anthropology, and political science. His doctoral thesis and upcoming monograph explore Islamophobia in contemporary France, as well as how novels and films can either contribute to or subvert exclusionary discourses. Where literature has traditionally been understood as being linked to emancipatory or inclusionary politics, the monograph explores the relationship between novels, films, and discourses of exclusion.

Broadly speaking, Fraser’s current research continues to focus on the relationship between politics (particularly reactionary politics) and culture, understood broadly. More specifically, he has interests in the cultural production of the French far right; the mainstreaming of far-right conspiracy theories; the work of Michel Houellebecq; representations of jihadi women in media and cultural production; the role of utopianism in both propagating and opposing racism; and the national variations (or lack thereof) in the so-called 'culture wars' that have underpinned politics in recent years. A common thread in all of these apparently diverse interests is an interest in postcolonial and decolonial studies, and in the difficulties both have had in being recognised as legitimate fields of research in France (whether in the academy or public discourse). Fraser is currently membership secretary of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France and co-convener, with Dr Salomé Ietter, of the Political Studies Association's French Politics and Policy specialist group. Between 2019 and 2023, he was publicity officer of the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. (Stir)
• MLitt (St And)
• BA (Hons) (Stir)

Professional memberships

• Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Student education

At the undergraduate level, Fraser teaches across the French programme, as well as on Comparative Literature units. He also contributes t o the MA programmes in Professional Language and Intercultural Studies and Film Studies.

Research groups and institutes

• French