Dr. Jane Suzanne Carroll
Associate Professor, English

Projects

• Title
  • Maria Edgeworth in the Pollard Collection of children's books: constructing, collecting and conserving girlhood in the children's literature archive
• Summary
  • This project interrogates concepts of girlhood as formed by Maria Edgeworth in her writing of children's stories, through a bibliographic study of Edgeworth's works held in the Pollard Collection of Children's Books at Trinity College Dublin. It focusses on Edgeworth as the Pollard Collection's most prolific author, using bibliography as a bridge to Edgeworth's texts, highlighting constructions of girlhood and femininity through the materiality of books and book production. Historical bibliographer Donald McKenzie (1986) states that bibliography must include both linguistic interpretation and historical explanation, creating a sociology of texts. I use bibliography to further Peter Hollindale's argument that childhood is as much a literary construction as it is a social construction, by arguing that "girlhood," is also a literary construct, and that it can be identified and traced within the texts, books and book collections written for and about girls (Vallone 1995, Rodgers 2016, Stewart 1993). I examine the Pollard Collection's many Edgeworth editions to show how past constructions inform current understandings of girlhood by presenting a timeline of girlhood highlighted through print culture; one that informs a girlhood experienced by female writers and girl readers in the course of a century. I show how the Edgeworth editions offer a trajectory of how girlhood is constructed or reconstructed over time, by the writer, the printer, and the implied girl reader. Through a combined methodology of textual analysis, girlhood studies, material culture, and book history, my examination of the editions shows how historical bibliography looks beyond Edgeworth's writing to the ideologies of girlhood that compelled her to write the stories, induced Pollard to collect them, and prompts scholars to consult them in the archive. This thesis provides insight into the writing, publishing and collecting practices that inform both Edgeworth's books and the collection as a whole.
• Funding Agency
  • Irish Research Council
• Date From
  • September 2021
• Date To
  • September 2023

• Title
  • Exploring Heritage Collections
• Summary
  • A blended module including development of a digital learning environment involving Google Cultural Institute, and practical workshops, linking School of English undergraduates and industry partners' staff (who can earn a microcredential) to digitised special collections in the Library of Trinity College Dublin and key heritage institutions in Dublin including the National Library of Ireland, the Irish Film Institute, Marsh's Library, the Royal Irish Academy, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the National Visual Arts Library at NCAD, and Dublin City Library and Archive. Students and industry professionals will work together in a series of off-site workshops and through the digital learning environment. Drawing on materials digitised through this project, students and industry professionals will collaborate to create online exhibitions for wide public audiences, generating new digital pathways for the access and enjoyment of special collections in libraries, museums, and galleries. Students will avail of internships with partner organisations and develop and practice new, transferable skills for the workplace, addressing the need for future skilled workers in the heritage sector. This module enables professionals in partner organisations and beyond to adopt new technologies and digitisation initiatives to promote heritage resources and engage new audiences both nationally and internationally. This module responds agilely to Trinity's capacity to anticipate, understand and respond to emerging skills of the Heritage sector. This module promotes lifelong learning, affording new opportunities for professionals within the heritage sector to upskill and to enhance their skill sets.Dr Julie Bates is Co-PI on this project.
• Funding Agency
  • Higher Education Authority
• Date From
  • January 2021
• Date To
  • December 2024

• Title
  • Inscriptions in Children's Books, Ireland 1900 - 1925: The Collection and Preservation of Childhood Through Marginalia in the Pollard Collection of Children's Books
• Summary
  • 9)Through focusing on the marginalia found within Pollard's collection with an emphasis on books published between 1900 and 1925, this thesis will establish how the collection preserves the childhood experience by examining the way in which the child reader utilises the book to express their own thoughts, knowledge and identities, and assesses the biographical traces of the child reader through the information which they include as part of their inscriptions. This study will use marginalia to uncover the geographical, social, and economic backgrounds of these child readers and use the marks they left on these books to evaluate the impact of national changes in Ireland on these children's lives.
• Funding Agency
  • Trinity College Dublin
• Date From
  • March 2021
• Date To
  • March 2025

• Title
  • The Pratchett Project
• Summary
  • This interdisciplinary network promotes knowledge exchange and supports collaborative projects on the work of fantasy author, Terry Pratchett. The network promotes Trinity's special relationship with Pratchett and brings much-needed critical attention to the collection of his works gifted to the Library by his estate. The two-day workshop in 2019, jointly organised by staff in the School of English, the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, the Trinity Centre for Digital Humanities, ADAPT, and the Library of Trinity College Dublin, is the first in a series, bringing together researchers, librarians, and fans of Terry Pratchett's work. This workshop will establish a network of interested parties and determine the nature of larger, future projects and events based around Pratchett's work.
• Funding Agency
  • Trinity Long Room Hub
• Date From
  • 18/12/18