Summary of the impact

Research led by Cayley (the Exeter Manuscripts Project) has enhanced appreciation of medieval manuscript culture, drawing upon unique Exeter holdings, and has increased public understanding of medieval game cultures and European manuscript production (Impact 1). Her iPad app, developed with Antenna International, related exhibition and workshops have effected a `translation' of medieval material culture through modern media. Research by Roberts has disseminated new understandings of Renaissance obscenity in visual form, influencing artistic practice, and engaging regional communities (Impact 2). Jones has generated impact by stimulating public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (Impact 3) based on research offering new understandings of narrative and the visual.

Underpinning research

The research of Cayley, Roberts and Jones, all based in the Department of Modern Languages' French unit, has contributed greatly to public understanding and appreciation of medieval, early-modern and modern French material and visual culture, largely through the `translation' of cultural artefacts and narratives via modern media and digital technologies.

Dr Emma Cayley (Senior Lecturer; appointed 2003) is well known in the field for her work on medieval manuscript culture and the history of the book, and has published widely in this area (e.g. 3.1, 3.2). Her previous publications on French, English, and broader European medieval manuscript culture, funded by bodies such as the Leverhulme Trust (Research Fellowship 2007) underpin this new project. Cayley has considerable expertise in text-editing, codicology and palaeography: skills which she brings to a sector that understands the benefits of academic input and content in driving forward innovation and functionality. In 2011, Cayley secured seedcorn funding (from the Exeter Open Innovation Platform's Link Fund) to develop a relationship with Antenna International, a global leader in handheld audio and multimedia tours that help museums, historic and cultural sites and national parks shape and enrich their visitors' experiences. This led to a pilot project funded by REACT-HEIF, and then a significant injection of funding from the AHRC-funded REACT hub through a collaborative PhD studentship and a REACT Project Fund grant to develop a prototype App. Cayley is working in collaboration with Antenna International to create the App which will reveal the secrets of medieval literature to a new audience.

Professor Hugh Roberts' (Personal Chair; appointed 2005) collaborative AHRC-funded research on obscenity in Renaissance France, his critical edition (3.3), with Dr Annette Tomarken (Miami University of Ohio, retired), of the early seventeenth-century French comedian known as Bruscambille, and his work on his current AHRC research grant, `Gossip and Nonsense: Excessive Language in Renaissance France' (Co-Investigator, Dr Emily Butterworth, King's College London), all underpin his impact-related activities. In addition to an open access database of French Renaissance obscenities, Roberts is collaborating with an Exeter-based artist, who is creating striking adaptations of obscenities, as well as nonsense, in visual form (see details in 4 below). For instance, Roberts' philological research into Bruscambille's printed speeches has revealed a large number of often hitherto unknown French expressions, which have proved suggestive for visual re- interpretation, as has an early seventeenth-century nonsense love poem, which Roberts uncovered in a manuscript in Paris (see, e.g. http://gossipandnonsense.exeter.ac.uk/?p=278).

Professor David Jones (Associate Professor; appointed 2005) has published widely on Samuel Beckett, trauma, the archive and intermediality, and the impact recorded here is underpinned by AHRC-funded research (AHRC Research Leave, 2007-08). The intermedial methodologies elaborated in Samuel Beckett and Testimony (2011) were subsequently developed in new contexts. In particular, 3.5 demonstrates the convergence between the `archival' strategies of Beckett's work, in which personal objects are the prosthetic foil to failing memory, and works of installation art. Just as Christian Boltanski mimics the archival preservation of personal effects, Beckett explicitly dramatises the situation of the self-archivist in Krapp's Last Tape. Jones' continuing work on visual archives has led to a major award under EU INTERREG IV (€1 million approx); within the project 1914FACES2014 (2012-15), Jones is currently working with artist Paddy Hartley and with the Archives départementales de la Somme. Jones is UK-based PI for this project in which he leads a HASS team of 15 collaborators based in HUMS and 3 in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences (Barreto, Life Sciences, is CI).

References to the research

All items have been through a rigorous process of peer-review. Jones' book (6) was shortlisted for the R.H.Gapper Prize (2012). Item 2 has received 6 highly positive reviews to date: one asserts that it is `of critical importance to late medieval scholarship'. Items 3, 4 and 6 were supported by grants from the Leverhulme Trust and the AHRC.

Emma Cayley:

Hugh Roberts:

David Houston Jones:

Grants - Cayley:

• AHRC REACT Project Fund award (£30,000 FEC) for the Exeter Manuscripts Project with Antenna International, May 2013.

• AHRC REACT-Exeter Collaborative Doctoral Award (£52,878) for PhD project on Games, Gaming and Social Networks in Late Medieval and Early Modern France and England (1350-1550), in partnership with Antenna International, March 2012 (PhD student Peter Knowles, started Oct 2012).

• HEIF REACT award (£6,250) for Exeter Book project with Antenna International, April 2012.

• Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, 2007.

Roberts:

• Principal Investigator, `Gossip and Nonsense: Excessive Language in Renaissance France', AHRC research grant, 2012-15 (£195,602, incl. PhD studentship); Co-Investigator: Dr Emily Butterworth (King's College London).

• AHRC research network on obscenity, 2007-09 (£48,774).

• Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, 2009-10.

Jones:

• EU INTERREG IV grant, 1914FACES2014, April 2013 (c. €1 million, £192K to Exeter).

• `Beckett: Biotestimonies', AHRC Research Leave, 2007-08 (£22,759).

Details of the impact

Increased public understanding of medieval game cultures and European manuscript production (Impact 1)

Based on her research into manuscript culture, Cayley won REACT-HEIF funding (£6,250), and a REACT Project fund grant (£30K) to create an iPad App to introduce school age pupils (Years 6-13) to medieval manuscript culture and to the celebrated Exeter Book (c. 950) in particular. Through the App they discover the history and origins of the manuscripts and engage directly with images and stories from the manuscripts themselves. Unlike in libraries, where books are freely accessible, people rarely see these manuscripts as they have to be kept in secure storage. The Exeter Manuscripts project aims to reverse the historic invisibility of these amazing old books, and to help Devon and the South West rediscover their written heritage. The Exeter Manuscripts Project held three study workshops focussed around Cayley's research in local schools in 2012. These were led by Cayley in collaboration with Sara Hurley, Story Worker and Community Artist, and Cara Patterson, Visual Artist and Illustrator, as well as an interactive designer from Antenna. Pupils from Isca College, St. Sidwell's C. E. Primary, and Exeter College (c. 45 individuals) helped to design the App, and composed and illustrated riddles, inspired by the Exeter Book. This later formed part of an exhibition in Exeter Cathedral from 23rd October-4th November 2012, `From Medieval Manuscripts to Calligraffiti: Discovering Exeter's Written Heritage', curated by Cayley, the Canon Librarian, and Ellie Jones, Archivist at Exeter Cathedral Library (c. 2,100 visitors over 14 days, including a preview day).

User testimonies illustrate the democratisation of access brought about by the project, which: "brought medieval manuscripts to life for them [the pupils] and they were excited by the prospect of being able to interact with the `real thing' via an App. Literature of this age is not normally freely accessible to school children" (Head of Languages, Isca College). A school governor from St. Sidwell's Primary wrote a riddle, inspired by Cayley's workshop, in the School newsletter which went home to all 236 pupils and their parents: "I brought knowledge from Exeter University; I brought fun for everyone; I held a workshop, we did a lot; I then put it on show at the expo. Who am I? Dr Cayley and her crew, that's who!" To accompany the exhibition, the Cathedral ran a series of events: two public workshops involving Exeter Library Special Collections' Head, Christine Faunch; two `calligraffiti' workshops for children; and a public lecture on the Exeter Book. Cayley was interviewed about the Exeter Manuscripts project on ITV West Country Tonight at 6pm on Monday 5th November 2012, and gave a radio interview on BBC Radio Devon as part of the Shep and Jo show on Thursday 1st November, 2012.

The key impacts of this project lie in the novel way that publics will be connected to culture, benefitting from insights from leading researchers. This relationship with one of the world's leading cultural App developers is at an early stage, and already bringing about major changes and benefits (including a doctoral student supervised jointly by Cayley and Antenna). The initial stages of the project saw over 2,000 individuals explore and engage with their medieval cultural history. A previous public exhibition (`The Treasures of Exeter Cathedral Library and Archives', July- September 2009; c.7,350 visitors over 7 weeks) organised jointly by Cayley and the Cathedral to coincide with the Eleventh Biennial Early Book Society Conference held at Exeter from 9-12^th July 2009 (selected papers were published as part of item 3.1), laid the groundwork for further collaboration between the University and Cathedral which has culminated in mutually beneficial research and grant income. Following Cayley's involvement, Exeter Cathedral secured a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) of £763,000 to support the Cathedral's education and learning programmes over three years (from Dec 2011-14). This followed a previous award from the HLF in October 2010 of £45,800. Exeter Cathedral used recent collaborations with the University, including that with Cayley, as part of their application materials. The grants have enabled the creation of a dedicated education space in the Cathedral for the first time, and the employment of specialist education and archives staff. The Cathedral is the most visited place in Exeter for both day and overnight visitors (110,000 paying visitors in 2012).

Influencing artistic practice, and engaging regional communities (Impact 2)

Roberts' collaborative work on obscenity in Renaissance France, including an on-line database of obscenities, as well as his co-edited critical edition of Bruscambille, have led to impact as part of his AHRC Research Grant, `Gossip and Nonsense: Excessive Language in Renaissance France'. Roberts is working in close collaboration with an Exeter-based artist to re-imagine Renaissance French double-entendres and nonsense through Japanese-style woodcuts created by the artist and displayed on-line at the project's blog: http://gossipandnonsense.exeter.ac.uk/. Statistics for the `Gossip and Nonsense' project blog from 1/6/12-31/7/13, show 566 visitors, 958 visits and 1761 page views; there were 1980 page views of the database of obscenities during the same period. Jones' work with the festival director of Winter Warmed, influencing his artistic practice, feeds into this impact, as well as serving to stimulate public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (see below). Cayley's Exeter Manuscripts Project has engaged regional communities centring on local Devon schools, Exeter Cathedral, and Exeter Cathedral Library and Archives.

Stimulating public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (Impact 3)

Jones' research on the intersection of theatre, prose fiction and the visual has led to public events focusing on the ways theatrical repertoires are changing in response to the visual arts. As part of the Winter Warmed theatre festival (January-Feb 2013), Jones participated in two public discussion sessions held at the Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter. Entitled `Fervent Thoughts', the sessions focused on comedy and performance (lead: Dr Laura Salisbury, Birkbeck) and theatre and installation art (lead: Jones). The festival, which combined productions of well-known plays by Samuel Beckett with a range of scripted and devised work by professional and amateur groups, was conceived in dialogue with community groups including Clyst Vale Community College, Exeter College and Uncommon Players. Jones engaged with practitioners in preparation for the festival, bringing a research perspective to productions of Endgame and Breath. Jones acted as academic advisor to the Festival Director, and fed insights from Jones 3.5 into the staging of Breath (dir. Bull), conceiving the piece as straddling installation and performance spheres. The Festival Director confirms the value of Jones' research to his staging of the performances, "Discussing your insights into Beckett's pre-occupations was helpful to me in the period of early rehearsals, challenging [...] my thinking, and your participation in the discussion sessions added some serious theoretical gravitas to our programme, which was borne out in the interest shown in the discussion itself" (email cited in 5.7). In the wider conception of the festival, the creation of `Beckett's Snug' brought discussion of Krapp's Last Tape into the space of the auditorium and helped bridge the divide between practitioners, academic and audience by hosting sessions like `Fervent Thoughts' and further post-show discussions.

Sources to corroborate the impact

The Exeter Manuscripts Project (Cayley):

1/ Cayley's impact can be corroborated by the Canon Librarian of Exeter Cathedral Library and Archives.

2/ http://www.iscacollege.co.uk/news/medieval-manuscripts:
This link leads to a news story about Cayley's workshop at Isca College, and the students' reactions to the day. Cayley's impact can be corroborated by the Head of Languages at Isca College of Media Arts.

3/ Bob Cruwys, `Medieval book gets modern treatment', ITV News, West Country, 5.11.12. Cayley was interviewed for West Country Tonight about her workshops, exhibition and iPad App. http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/story/2012-11-05/app-for-exeter-book/

4/ http://www.rluk.ac.uk/content/presentations-and-slides-rluk-members-meeting-exeter:
A link to the Research Libraries UK website where slides for Cayley's talk about the Exeter Manuscripts Project to the annual conference of RLUK (April 2013) are available.

Gossip and Nonsense (Roberts):

5/ http://gossipandnonsense.exeter.ac.uk/:
The blog of the `Gossip and Nonsense' AHRC research grant, including a gallery of the prints inspired by the research. Roberts' impact can be corroborated by the project artist.

6/http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/modernlanguages/french/research/networks/obscenity/database/: The open access database of lewd French Renaissance words and expressions.

Press coverage of Winter Warmed (Jones)

7/ http://razzmag.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/winter-warmed/
Jones' impact has been corroborated by the Festival Director. An email is available (28/10/13).

8/ http://www.remotegoat.com/uk/review_view.php?uid=9403
A review of the Winter Warmed Festival by Arthur Duncan.