Dr Rebecca Barr

Fellow
University Positions
University Associate Professor of Gender and Sexualities
Subjects
Specialising in
Eighteenth-century literature

Rebecca Anne Barr’s research focuses on representations of gender and sexuality in eighteenth-century fiction, with a particular emphasis on masculinity.

Academic interests

Her academic interests include: 

  • Eighteenth-century novel
  • Gender and sexuality in literature
  • Embodiment
  • Twentieth-century poetry.

Degrees obtained

  • BA, Cantab.
  • MPhil, Cantab.
  • PhD, Cantab.

Awards and prizes

  • 2019: Huntington Library, Short Term Fellowship.
  • 2016: Lewis Walpole Library Fellowship, Yale University.
  • 2015: HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area), Research Networking Bursary.
  • 2014: Muriel McCarthy Research Fellowship, Marsh’s Library, Dublin.
  • 2012: Chawton House, Visiting Fellowship.
  • 2012: NUI Galway, President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
  • 2002: Seatonian Prize for poetry, the University of Cambridge.

Biography

Rebecca Anne Barr is a University Associate Professor in the Faculty of English. She studied at Jesus College Cambridge for her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, writing her PhD on the work of eighteenth-century novelist Samuel Richardson. Originally from Northern Ireland, she taught at St Peter’s College, Oxford, and the National University of Ireland, Galway, before returning to Cambridge in 2019.

Other interests

Sleeping (history, theory and practice), art, cinema, hiking, and bees.

Publications, links and resources

  • Barr, R.A, (2020), ‘Brightest wits and bravest soldiers: Ireland, Masculinity and the politics of paternity’, in Irish Literature in Transition, 1700-1780, M. Haslett, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Barr, R.A. (2020), ‘The New Eighteenth-Century Ireland,’ Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture.
  • Barr, R.A., Brady, S., McGaughey, J. eds. (2019), Ireland and Masculinities in History, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Barr, R.A., ‘Men, Women, and not quite non-persons: derivatization in Roxana’, La Revue de Société des Études Anglo-Américaines des XVII et XVIII Siecles (75), 2018.
  • Barr, R.A., Kleiman-Lafon, S., and Vasset, S. eds. (2018), Bellies, Bowels and Entrails in the Eighteenth Century, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Barr, R.A. (2018), ‘Desire, Disgust, and indigestion in John Cleland’s Memoirs of a Coxcomb,’ Bellies, Bowels and Entrails in the Eighteenth Century, pp. 227-251.
  • Barr, R.A. (2018), ‘“Moral Painting, by Way of Dialogue”: Shaftesbury in The Cry,’ Shaftesbury: Shaping Enlightenment Politics, ed. P. Müller ed., Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main, pp. 237-254.
  • Barr, R.A. (2016), ‘Barren desarts of arbitrary words”: language and communication in Collier and Fielding’s The Cry’, Women’s Writing, Volume 23, Issue 1(2016), 87-105.
  • Barr, R.A. (2016), ‘The man of feeling as dupe of desire: John Cleland’s 'Memoirs of a Coxcomb’, Etudes Epistémè, 30, 2016.
  • Barr, R.A., and J. Tonra (2016), ‘Annotation and the Social Edition,’ A Handbook of Editing Early Modern Texts, ed. H. Philips and C. Williams, Ashgate, pp. 117–120
  • Barr, R.A. (2014), ‘Black Transactions: waste and abundance in Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa,’ The Afterlife of Used Things: Recycling in the Eighteenth Century, A. Fennetaux, A. Junqua and S. Vasset eds., London: Routledge, pp. 199–211.
  • Barr, R.A. (2013), Pathological Laughter and the response to ridicule: Samuel Richardson, Jane Collier and Sarah Fielding,’ La Revue de Société des Études Anglo-Américaines des XVII et XVIII Siecles, XII-XIII (70) 2013, 223–246.
  • Barr, R.A. (2012), ‘W.S. Graham and epistolarity,’ Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry, 1.4 (May), 51–63.
  • Barr, R.A., (2011), ‘“Complete Hypocrite, Complete Tradesman”: Defoe’s Complete English Tradesman and masculine conduct,’ Positioning Daniel Defoe’s Non-fiction: Form, Function, Genre, ed. A. Mueller, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 67–85.
  • Barr, R.A. (2010), ‘Resurrecting Saxon things: Peter Reading, ‘species decline’ and Old English poetry,’ Bone Dreams: Anglo-Saxon Culture in the Modern Imagination, N. Perkins and D. Clark eds., Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 255–279.
  • Barr, R.A. (2010), ‘The Gothic in David Lynch: phantasmagoria and abjection,’ David Lynch in Theory, ed. F.X. Gleyzon, Litteraria Pragensia, pp. 132–146.
  • Barr, R.A. (2010), ‘Richardson’s Sir Charles Grandison and the symptoms of subjectivity,’ The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, 51:4, Winter 2010, 1–24.

Hear from our students

  • Photo of postgraduate student

    Ellie

    Postgraduate

    Jesus College has been a great home for me during my PhD. I chose Jesus College for a number of reasons – first, the location. We are central enough to be within easy walking distance of most things, but far enough away to avoid the hustle and bustle (and tourists in summer!). The College also has extensive grounds, with amenities like the hockey pitch, football pitch and tennis courts all on site. Secondly, the accommodation is some of the best I’ve seen in Cambridge. My house was newly renovated when...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Photograph of a postgraduate student

    Tara

    Postgraduate

    Jesus College has all the benefits of being large, historical and prestigious college, whilst also retaining fantastic welfare: the staff and other students all care about each other, and will be there to cheer you on when you are thriving, but also there to support you if you need any help. I chose Jesus due to several reasons, including its prime location, where it is very central, and easy to access everywhere, even if you work in one of the institutes further out. I also selected Jesus for its MCR...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Postgraduate at Jesus College

    Dolly

    Postgraduate

    I chose Jesus College because of the great mixture of undergraduates and postgraduates, and when I first visited I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen! The sense of community in Jesus has had an enormous impact on my experience here. Whether you need help, advice, cheering up or even just a chat there is always someone there to put a smile on your face. From the MCR committee to the Porters, the canteen staff to the gardeners, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Jesus also...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Postgraduate at Jesus College

    Tom

    Postgraduate

    There are many reasons why I’m so happy to be a part of Jesus College. The three biggest reasons for me are the opportunities to be involved in College sport, the support the College provides for me with for my research and the help in making sure that we have comfortable, affordable accommodation when we have needed it. Jesus College is so friendly and so it is incredibly easy to get involved in the sport and social side of the College. The MCR does a great job in welcoming new...

    Read more
    Postgraduate
  • Photograph of a postgraduate student

    Alison

    Postgraduate

    What first attracted me to Jesus College was its reputation and history, central location without being touristy, and the postgraduate housing options. When I arrived at Jesus I was so pleased to find the partner accommodation was spacious, affordable, and situated very close to the college, allowing us to really take advantage of the facilities. We especially enjoyed The Roost, the nicest of all the college bars, doubling as a café during the day - ideal for studying or meeting up with groups - and a lively pub in the...

    Read more
    Postgraduate