Yasmin Akhter

Yasmin Akhter

Ms

Personal profile

Personal profile

My research explores global theories of cosmopolitanism from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I examine the memoirs of Emily Ruete, M.N. Roy, and Isabelle Eberhardt as case studies of displacement - migrancy, exile, and nomadism - to demonstrate the complex relationship between mobility and cosmopolitan thought in an age of empire. In doing so, I aim to highlight the various modes of cosmopolitanisms that circulated globally during this time, especially those which challenge the post-national, liberal, universalist ideologies of the European cosmopolite. More broadly, my project focuses on the significance of memoirs and life writing as a mode of representing non-normative cosmopolitan subjectivities. 

Before starting my PhD at Royal Holloway, I completed my BA in English Literature at Kings College London and my MA in Victorian Studies at Birkbeck College. 

Research interests

I am primarily interested in researching world literature from the long nineteenth century and my wider reasearch interests include postcolonial studies, cosmopolitan and world systems theories, travel and migration literature, life-writing, mobilities studies, and literary geographies.

Teaching

2021-22

EN1107: Re-Orienting the Novel

EN3127: Orientalist Fantasies From the Eighteenth Century to the Present (convening)

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):

  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities