Dena Ryness

Biography

I am an educator, linguist and researcher specialising in language, identity and contemporary Francophone women’s writing. My work focuses on how writers articulate belonging, displacement and selfhood across cultural and political boundaries. Alongside my doctoral studies, I draw on significant professional experience in secondary education, where I have led curriculum development in Modern Foreign Languages and taught French and Spanish across KS3–KS5. This background informs my interest in how language shapes perspectives, identities and cultural narratives.

Research Overview

My PhD investigates how contemporary Palestinian and Jewish North African women writers navigate exile, displacement and the instability of identity within and against French republican universalism. Through close textual analysis, I explore how these writers:

• represent loss, migration and the complexities of diasporic experience
• negotiate tensions between ethnic or national identity and the demands of French universalist discourse
• reclaim agency from masculinist nationalist narratives
• unsettle political binaries—including victim/perpetrator and resistance/terrorism—through literary form
• articulate women’s perspectives within broader debates on nation, community and belonging

My research contributes to discussions of identity, postcoloniality and the politics of representation in contemporary Francophone literature.

Research Interests

• Contemporary Francophone literature
• Palestinian literature in French
• Jewish North African women’s writing
• Exile and displacement
• Postcolonial and decolonial approaches
• Gender and nationalism
• Memory and identity
• Literary representations of political conflict

Professional Background

I have extensive experience teaching French, Spanish and German in UK secondary schools, including curriculum leadership roles with responsibility for French programme development. I design evidence-informed, inclusive schemes of work that support strong linguistic progression and reflect my wider interest in language as a site of cultural encounter and expression.

Engagement

I maintain active links with organisations and forums that promote Jewish–Muslim dialogue and intercultural understanding, reflecting the ethical and community-oriented dimensions of my research interests.