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Kate Kavanagh
(she/her)
Research student
Overview
Katharine is a PhD student in the Centre for Language and Communication Research.
Her research takes a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis approach to audience experience and public representations of circus, with a focus on evaluative texts.
Academic Background
- MA in Language and Communication Research at Cardiff University (2018-2019; Distinction)
- BA in Theatre at Dartington College of Arts (2002-2005; First Class Honours)
Research
- Circus Studies
- (Critical) Discourse Analysis
- Corpus Linguistics
- Evaluation
- Arts Criticism
I also have an underlying interest in communication that bridges difference in value systems, particularly in education and public media.
Publication
Article:
Book review:
- Routledge Companion to Audiences and the Performing Arts, In Cultural Trends, 32:4, 2023. 443-447 (Co-authored with Hannah Griffiths, Simon Piening, Beth Prevor, Lizzie Ridley & Serena Slack-Robins)
- Female Aerialists in the 1920s and Early 1930s: Femininity, Celebrity and Glamour, Abingdon/New York: Routledge, 2022. 196 pp. Kate Holmes. In Circus: Arts, Life, and Sciences 1(1), 2022.
- Circus as Multimodal Discourse: Performance, Meaning, and Ritual. By Paul Bouissac. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Pp. 216 + 38 illus. £80 Hb; £79.99 eb; £24.99 Pb.The Greatest Shows On Earth: A History of the Circus. By Linda Simon. London: Reaktion Books, 2014. Pp. 296 + 136 illus. £29/$40 Hb. In Theatre Research International 41(1) Mar 2016, p.92-93
- Contemporary Street Arts in Europe: Aesthetics and Politics. By Susan C. Haedicke. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Pp. xiii + 228 + 8 illus. £53 Hb. In Theatre Research International 40(1) Mar 2015, p.118-119
Symposium
- The Metamodern Circus, 26th May 2023. NoFit State Circus, Cardiff.
Documentation available at https://thecircusdiaries.com/the-metamodern-circus/.
Presentations
- 'Things That Make Us Go Ooh... (Why We Keep Rolling Up to the Circus)', at Corpus Linguistics 2023, 4 Jul 2023
- 'Opportunity in the Abyss: growing a critical culture of circus', at Platform Symposium: On Criticism, 23 Nov 2018, Central School of Speech and Drama, London
- 'Overcoming Academic Otherness - experiments in integration', at Circus and Its Others II, 27-29 Aug 2018, Prague
- 'Introduction to the Contemporary Circus: Studies and Spectacle', at Festival of Creative Learning, 22 Feb 2018, University of Edinburgh (School of Art)
- 'Circus and Criticism', at Theatre and Fandom, 7 July 2017, University of Bristol
Thesis
What's So Special About (the) Circus - and Who Says So? A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of Value Difference and Mediation in Promotional Texts
The research investigates the value that is attributed to the experience of attending UK circus performance through evaluative texts. Specifically, a comparison is made between the direct language of audience members, and the mediated language of reviews and publicity materials, from the period immediately pre-and post-pandemic. The research explores which elements of circus audience experience are under- or over-represented in these particular text types, and draws conclusions that highlight gaps in the communicative potential of promotional discourse in the UK circus field. A novel corpus linguistic methodology is applied to investigate the evaluative targets within the texts, triangulating results from a Key Semantic Domain analysis (Rayson et al. 2004) with complementary results from a tailored quali-quantative analysis framework derived from Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal system. Results show that the values expressed through audience interviews are least aligned with those promoted in publicity materials, while published reviews occupy a mid-point between the two, albeit more closely aligned with publicity materials than with direct interviews. Commonalities and distinctiveness between the three corpora are discussed—such as differing volumes of affect-based and cognitive-based reporting, the varying importance placed on qualities of novelty and social experience, and strategies of legitimisation—and attention is drawn to the lack of vocabulary or discursive confidence among audience members. Ultimately, recommendations are made for ways in which promoters of circus work can more effectively align their publicity materials with audience values. Moreover, a broader recommendation is made for the UK circus sector to develop strategies for better articulating the variety and diversity of 21st Century circus, in order to foster more representative public perceptions and further align industry and audience values.
Funding sources
ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Partnership
Teaching
- Visiting Lecturer at Circomedia in Bristol, UK, teaching circus history, context and and criticality to BA & MA students (Oct 2018-)
- Guest lecturer at the University of Dance and Circus (DOCH) in Stockholm, Sweden, teaching a weeklong workshop on circus performance and interpretation to 2nd year BA students (Apr 2018-)
- Lecturer at the National Centre for Circus Arts in London, UK, teaching a module on performance review and analysis to 2nd year BA students (Sept 2017-Feb 2018)
