Merton Graduate Wins Gapper Essay Prize

Merton postgraduate student Sarah Hickmott has won this year's RH Gapper Postgraduate Essay Prize - the major prize for graduate work in French studies in the UK. Sarah, who is carrying out her AHRC-funded DPhil project under the supervision of Dr Ian Maclachlan, is currently teaching and continuing her research at the École normale supérieure in Lyon, France.

Her essay, entitled '(En) Corps Sonore', will form a part of her thesis on the characterisation of music in post-'68 French thought. It critiques the work of contemporary philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy; specifically, his extended essay, À l'écoute. She explains:

"In my essay I explore how Nancy's treatise on philosophical listening—perhaps unwittingly—both perpetuates a long-standing philosophical tendency to characterise music (and sound) as essentially feminine whilst also figuring Western art music as synonymous with music in general, thus naturalising tonality (a specific system) and dehistoricising the social, cultural, and political ramifications of the high art canon."

The Gapper Prize judging panel were unanimous in the view that the essay was "an outstanding piece of critical reflection, and a worthy recipient of this year’s award."

Sarah graduated as a mature student with a first class honours degree from Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and went on to gain an MA in Critical Methodologies at King's College London.

The award includes a cash prize of £750 and expenses-paid travel to the Society for French Studies' Annual Conference which takes place at the University of Aberdeen from 30 June to 2 July 2014.