Staff profile

My research interests lie in medieval Francophone, Occitan and Franco-Italian culture. My forthcoming book focuses on ontologies in five medieval encyclopaedias in French: L'Image du monde, Sydrac, Placides et Timéo, Brunetto Latini's Trésor and the Livre des propriétés des choses. It argues that these texts discuss the capacities of different forms of life (humans, animals, plants and minerals) and classify life differently in text, paratext and image across their manuscript traditions.

My new collaborative project with Miranda Griffin at Cambridge focuses on intertextual and intervisual relationships in manuscripts of L'Image du monde. We are especially interested in the links between encyclopaedic knowledge and medical, ethical, historical and literary knowledges that are created when the Image is anthologized with a broad range of other works. 

My work on the chansons de geste about rebel barons, as well as their chronicle and prose rewritings, led to a book on resistance against royal power in medieval culture. I examined these works through lenses of medieval political theory, anthropological work on feud and rebellion, and histories of sovereignty. I spoke on the Song of Roland on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time.

I perform academic-related comedy and am part of a monthly 'nerdy' comedy night at Newcastle's Stand Comedy Club. I have also performed for the Bright Club and Comedy for the Curious, and at several comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe.

I have previously published on cyclical narratives, with a focus on the relationship between ethics and the figure of the hero in the Guillaume d'Orange cycle, the Lancelot and Tristan prose romances, and the Roman de Renart. My research interests include the materiality of medieval historiography and romance, medieval practices and concepts of translation, cosmopolitanism, textual geographies and hybrid languages, including the French of Italy.

Before coming to Durham, I was a graduate student at King's College London, and research fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. I have been a visiting fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, Cornell University, and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton.

Postgraduate Supervision

I would be keen to hear from students interested in pursuing research in any area of medieval French and Occitan literature. 

• Medieval Encyclopaedias
• The Visual Construction of Knowledge
• Medieval French Literature
• Medieval Occitan Literature
• Franco-Italian Literature
• Medieval Libraries
• Medieval Translation

Authored book

• Rebel Barons: Resisting Royal Power in Medieval Culture
  
  Sunderland, L. (2017). Rebel Barons: Resisting Royal Power in Medieval Culture. Oxford University Press.
• Old French Narrative Cycles: Heroism Between Ethics and Morality
  
  Sunderland, L. (2010). Old French Narrative Cycles: Heroism Between Ethics and Morality. D.S. Brewer.

Chapter in book

• Touch and Movement in Chretien de Troyes's Chevalier de la Charrette
  
  Sunderland, L. (2022). Touch and Movement in Chretien de Troyes’s Chevalier de la Charrette. In W. Scase, L. Ashe, P. Knox, & K. Robertson (Eds.), New Medieval Literatures (pp. 1-30). Boydell & Brewer. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800104884.001
• Cosmopolitanism
  
  Sunderland, L. (2022). Cosmopolitanism. In Transnational Modern Languages (pp. 69-76). https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2fjwpw7.11
• Venice
  
  Sunderland, L. (2016). Venice. In D. Wallace (Ed.), Europe : a literary history, 1348-1418. (pp. 486-501). Oxford University Press.
• La Vengeance royale dans le Couronnement de Louis
  
  Sunderland, L. (2013). La Vengeance royale dans le Couronnement de Louis. In D. Hüe (Ed.), Lectures du ’Couronnement de Louis’. (pp. 39-49). Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
• Multilingualism and Empire in L’Entrée d’Espagne
  
  Sunderland, L. (2012). Multilingualism and Empire in L’Entrée d’Espagne. In J. Weiss & S. Salih (Eds.), Locating the Middle Ages : the places and spaces of medieval culture. (pp. 55-66). King’s College London, Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies.
• Bueve d'Hantone/Bovo d'Antona: Exile, Translation and the History of the Chanson de geste
  
  Sunderland, L. (2012). Bueve d’Hantone/Bovo d’Antona: Exile, Translation and the History of the Chanson de geste. In E. Campbell & R. Mills (Eds.), Rethinking medieval translation : ethics, politics, theory. (pp. 226-242). Boydell & Brewer.
• Chanson de geste
  
  Sunderland, L. (2012). Chanson de geste. In R. Greene, S. Cushman, C. Cavanagh, J. Ramazani, P. Rouzer, H. Feinsod, D. Marno, & A. Slessarev (Eds.), The Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics. 4th ed. (pp. 220-222). Princeton University Press.
• The (Future) Perfect Knight: Repetition in the Cycle de Guillaume d’Orange
  
  Sunderland, L. (2008). The (Future) Perfect Knight: Repetition in the Cycle de Guillaume d’Orange. In E. Lindley & L. McMahon (Eds.), Rhythms : essays in French literature, thought and culture. (pp. 87-99). Peter Lang.

Journal Article

• The Restless Orders of Nature: Multispecies Classification in Jean Corbechon's Livre des propriétés des choses
  
  Sunderland, L. (2022). The Restless Orders of Nature: Multispecies Classification in Jean Corbechon’s Livre des propriétés des choses. Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 52(2), 253-284. https://doi.org/10.1215/10829636-9687872
• Visualizing Elemental Ontology in the Livre des propriétés des choses
  
  Sunderland, L. (2020). Visualizing Elemental Ontology in the Livre des propriétés des choses. The Romanic Review., 111(1), 106-127. https://doi.org/10.1215/00358118-8007978
• A Cosmopolitan Middle Ages?
  
  Sunderland, L. (2019). A Cosmopolitan Middle Ages? Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 31(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/10412573.2019.1555300
• Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie
  
  Sunderland, L. (2018). Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 54(4), 443-464. https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqy041
• Medieval Cultures and Modern Crises: Agamben’s Troubadours, Angels and Monks
  
  Sunderland, L. (2018). Medieval Cultures and Modern Crises: Agamben’s Troubadours, Angels and Monks. Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities, 23(5), 77-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969725x.2018.1513200
• Introduction: Medieval Libraries, History of the Book and Literature
  
  Sunderland, L. (2016). Introduction: Medieval Libraries, History of the Book and Literature. French Studies, 70(2), 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/knw004
• Genre, Ideology and Utopia in Huon de Bordeaux
  
  Sunderland, L. (2012). Genre, Ideology and Utopia in Huon de Bordeaux. Medium Aevum., 81(2), 289-302.
• Linguistic and Political Ferment in the Franco-Italian Epic: The Geste Francor as Minor Literature
  
  Sunderland, L. (2011). Linguistic and Political Ferment in the Franco-Italian Epic: The Geste Francor as Minor Literature. Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 23(3), 293-313. https://doi.org/10.1179/174963111x13009808981910
• Marcabru in Motion: “Dire vos vuoill ses duptanssa” in Chansonniers A and C, and in Matfre Ermengaud's Breviari d’amor
  
  Sunderland, L. (2011). Marcabru in Motion: “Dire vos vuoill ses duptanssa” in Chansonniers A and C, and in Matfre Ermengaud’s Breviari d’amor. Glossator., 4, 115-130.
• The Art of Revolt: Rebellion in the Works of Bertran de Born and Julia Kristeva
  
  Sunderland, L. (2010). The Art of Revolt: Rebellion in the Works of Bertran de Born and Julia Kristeva. Comparative Literature, 62(1), 22-40. https://doi.org/10.1215/00104124-2009-030
• Le Cycle de Renart: From the Enfances to the Jugement in a Cyclical Roman de Renart Manuscript
  
  Sunderland, L. (2008). Le Cycle de Renart: From the Enfances to the Jugement in a Cyclical Roman de Renart Manuscript. French Studies, 62(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/knm234
• Entre résistance et révolte: les enjeux du territoire
  
  Sunderland, L. (2008). Entre résistance et révolte: les enjeux du territoire. Revue Des Langues Romanes., 112(2), 465-490.