The visibility of the English Unit's research on an international scale is high, thanks to our publications and other scientific activities.
As such, members of the Unit have been heavily involved in the scientific direction of volumes and thematic issues of international journals, as well as in the general direction of journals of this type (English Text Construction, co-edited by Lieven Vandelanotte from 2010 to 2019, and Target, co-edited by Dirk Delabastita from 2013 to 2019).
Several members have undertaken research stays abroad in recent years, notably in Cardiff, Hong Kong, Manchester, Providence, and Vancouver. In addition to regular participation in international colloquia around the world, the Unit has invited the world to Namur, including for the colloquium of the Association of Belgian Anglicists (BAAHE) in 2008, the "Communicative dynamism" colloquium in 2016 and the "Reviewing viewpoint" colloquium in 2019.
Main research themes
The main research approaches and themes within the English Unit include, on the literary side, heterolingualism (the use of "other" languages in a literary text), wordplay, narratology and literary terminology, translatology, Shakespeare and the Renaissance, and the global novel. For linguistics, research focuses, on the one hand, on the detailed study of constructions in contemporary English, based on linguistic corpora, as well as, on the other hand, on the analysis of reported discourse and point of view-taking through different types of discourse and modes of expression (including the visual), in a cognitive approach.
Recent or current doctorates
In literature (promoter: Dirk Delabastita), three PhDs on Shakespearean themes are currently underway: heterolingualism in Shakespeare's historical plays (Asseline Sel), French translations of Shakespeare in the 18th century (Louise Dumont) and prophecies in Shakespeare's work (Nathalie Borrelli). Noémie Nélis's doctoral project on notions of "world literature" and the global novel in English has recently been completed (2021).
In linguistics (promoter: Lieven Vandelanotte), two PhDs in co-promotion with KU Leuven have been completed in recent years: one on the grammaticalisation of "verbonominal" markers of progressive aspect (in the middle of, on the way to, etc.; Tinne Van Rompaey, 2013) and the other focusing on the distinction between reported speech and factivity (Caroline Gentens, 2016). More recently (2020), Wout Van Praet completed his PhD on specifying sentences carried out in cotutelle with KU Leuven.