Personal profile
Research overview
I work on French poetry from the C19th onwards, with a particular interest in questions of rhythm and form. I look at how aesthetic value is constructed, and how the idea of poetry in France evolves from Romanticism to the present day. I have a twofold interest in music: firstly, how poets use musical metaphors to articulate their poetics, and secondly, how composers respond to those aesthetic reflections when setting the poems to music. I also work on ecocritical approaches to literature, poetic expression from the regions of France, and literary representations of masculinity.
Research interests
I am interested in how poets use the form of their work to articulate broader aesthetic and cultural questions, and I have published work on Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Banville, Laforgue, Verlaine, Valéry and Houellebecq from this perspective. I also have a twofold interest in music: firstly, how poets use musical metaphors to explore their poetics, and secondly, how composers such as Debussy, Fauré and Koechlin respond to that work by setting these poems to music. I have worked on ecocriticism, and have published articles on the relationship between poetics and the representation of the natural world in the poetry of Banville and Krysinska. I have recently developed an interest in the writing of Valery Larbaud, working on the poetry of early C20th cosmopolitanism from a translingual perspective.
Future research
I am currently preparing a monograph on the relationship between masculinity and poetic discourse, entitled Rhyme Like a Man: Poetic Masculinities in France 1820-1920.
Academic/Professional Qualification
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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SDG 5 Gender Equality
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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La crise de la virilité et le vers brisé chez Leconte de Lisle
Evans, D. E., 2026, L'incorrection en poésie. Locatelli, F., Schellino, A. & Lucioni, M. (eds.). Paris: Presses Sorbonne NouvelleResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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When the dead speak in verse: collective writing and hauntological rhythms at Victor Hugo's Jersey séances
Evans, D., 11 Jan 2026, In: Modern Language Review. 121, 1, p. 56-80Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Auguste de Châtillon, Jules Forni, Charles Coran
Evans, D. E., 23 Oct 2024, Le Parnasse contemporain: recueil de vers nouveaux (1866). Scepi, H. & Whidden, S. (eds.). Paris: Editions Classiques Garnier, (Bibliothèque du xixe siècle; no. 114).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Leveque, James P. Words Like Fire: Prophecy and Apocalypse in Apollinaire, Marinetti and Pound
Evans, D., 23 Jul 2024, In: Forum for Modern Language Studies. 60, 2, p. 285-286 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
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Histoires de cul et du maître 'invaincu': pornographie, parodie ... et Victor Hugo dans les vers érotiques de Verlaine
Evans, D. E., 22 Mar 2023, In: Revue Verlaine. 20, p. 47-68 13 p.Translated title of the contribution :Sex and the 'unconquered' master: pornography, parody ... and Victor Hugo in Verlaine's erotic verse Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Projects
- 4 Finished
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Institutions and Power in 19th Century: Institutions and Power in 19th Century French Literature and Culture
Evans, D. (PI)
1/01/10 → 31/03/11
Project: Standard
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Music Memory and Mechanism: Music Memory and Mechanism: The Poetic Theory and Practice of Theodore de Banville
Evans, D. (PI)
1/12/08 → 31/01/09
Project: Standard
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Rhythm in literature after the crisis: Rhythm in Literature after the Crisis in Verse
Evans, D. (PI)
1/04/08 → 31/07/09
Project: Standard
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Pleasure and Pain in C19th French Litera: Pleasure and Pain in C19th French Literature and Culture
Evans, D. (PI)
1/01/08 → 31/07/08
Project: Standard
Activities
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Teaching francophone audiovisual cultures: What can songs and screens teach language educators and students?
Souleau, P. (Invited speaker) & Evans, D. E. (Invited speaker)
11 Mar 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Midwest Modern Languages Association
Evans, D. E. (Participant)
3 Nov 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
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It Gives Us The Other: Poetry and Translation
Evans, D. E. (Participant)
28 Apr 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
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Society of Dix-Neuviemistes
Evans, D. E. (Participant)
7 Apr 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
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Society of Dix-Neuviemistes
Evans, D. E. (Participant)
25 Mar 2011Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a conference
Impacts
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Poetry and Music in C19th France, or The Value of Art (REF2014).
Evans, D. (Participant)
Impact: Cultural, Creative Impact