I am a Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Glasgow. Prior to that, I was Lecturer in Comparative Literature at King's College London. I completed my doctorate at the University of Oxford and a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Warwick. I have also held visiting fellowships at the universities of Columbia and Johns Hopkins.
My research interests are:
I love sharing my research with the wider public and was in fact selected in 2021 to be part of the BBC New Generation Thinkers scheme. Links to my Radio 3 programmes on BBC Sounds are available on this website's media page. The same programmes are also available to download as part of the BBC Arts & Ideas podcast. |
Books
Iran and French Orientalism: Persia in the Literary Culture of Nineteenth-Century France (I.B. Tauris, publication on 28 December 2023)
This is my second monograph, based on research funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The book reveals Iran's special place in French culture as an 'Oriental' nation that was seen as culturally closer to Europe. In it, I cover everything from women travellers in Qajar Iran, to the invention of the Aryan myth, to the impact of new translations of Persian poetry on French poetry. REVIEWS 'Clever, exciting, timely: Julia Hartley's wonderful book completely reinvents the way we think about Iran and France. By revealing the vast array of devices, ideas, styles, and writing that are all too often dismissed as mere “Orientalism “, she demonstrates Iran's exemplary place at the heart of nineteenth century literary, historical, musical, and cultural production. She takes us on marvelous trajectories that show how Oriental themes are good to think with in the strong literary sense, and that figures as varied as Hugo, Gautier, Michelet, Dieulafoy, Dukas, and Bibesco aren't just responding to or participating in imperialism; they are also reckoning with Iran's rich literary heritage and each other.' - Ziad Elmarsafy (University of St Andrews) 'Hartley's new book makes a resounding case for the specificity of Iran as perceived and instrumentalised within nineteenth-century French discourse. Written in an elegantly lucid style, this is an important contribution to French transcultural studies that significantly nuances any notion of a monolithic Orientalism.' - Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford) |
Reading Dante and Proust by Analogy, Legenda Transcript series (2019).
This is the “thesis book”. It reads Dante’s Divine Comedy and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time in dialogue, in order to offer a new perspective on these familiar faces of the Western canon. I focus in particular on: literary authority and the role of first-person narrative; the structuring effect of journey metaphors and the resistance to narrative teleology; the gendered representation of mentor figures; the redemption narrative. REVIEWS 'Hartley’s erudite, persuasive, and reader-friendly book is a powerful debut, an irresistible invitation to love literature. I confidently look forward to her future work.’ — Thomas Pavel, Modern Philology ‘comparative work at its best ’— Ilaria Serra, Speculum ‘an important example for literary comparisons to come.’ — Valentina Mele, Modern Language Review 'A stimulating methodological contribution to the field of comparative literature.’ — Alessandra Aloisi, H-France ‘brillante étude […] un fin plaidoyer pour la littérature comparée’ —Hughes Azérad, French Studies ‘an enlightening, original, and powerful book’ — Serena Vandi, Italian Studies |