Frank Cui

Profile

I'm a PhD student working on Romanticism at the School of English. I joined Jilin University as an undergraduate in Chinese Literature & Linguistics in 2014 before completing an MA in English Literature (Renaissance Pathway) at the University of Leeds in 2020. After the years of Covid, I returned to Leeds to continue my PhD study.

I worked as a freelance translator and writer before returning to academia, my previous writings are mostly on films.

Research interests

My research interest lies in the intertwined relationships between aesthetics and politics, especially in the Romantic period. I’m also interested in Michel Serres’s and Bruno Latour’s theories and hope to employ their theories in my research. My PhD thesis is on Byron and Epicureanism, it hopes to demonstrate a history of ideas in which Epicureanism actively shaped the formation of the ‘system’ and Byron’s negotiation with his contemporary radical culture.

My research interest is not only limited to Romanticism. My MA dissertation focuses on the representation of the inheritance crisis in Dido, Queen of Carthage, The Tempest and Sea Voyage. Apart from professional interests, I’m also a passionate reader of Japanese literature, especially Mishima Yukio.

Qualifications

• BA Chinese Language and Literature, Jilin University
• MA English Literature (Renaissance Pathway), University of Leeds