PERSONAL DATA:
Name: Borbála László
Email: brbala.laszlo@gmail.com
MTMT ID: 10078261
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7718-6419
EDUCATION:
2020- : University of Debrecen, Doctoral School of Literary and Cultural Studies, British Studies Program
2018-2020: University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies, English Studies MA, Literary and Cultural Studies track
2014-2017: University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies, English Studies BA, British Literature and Culture track
2009-2014: Ady Endre Secondary School, Debrecen, Hungary
LANGUAGE COMPETENCE:
English: fluent, complex state accredited language examination (1313860)
Italian: B2 level, complex state accredited language examination (1614314)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
animal studies, animal representations in literature and film, dog representations, phenomenology of the human and non-human animal body, biopolitics, bioethics, film, television and media studies
PUBLICATIONS:
- “Phantosomeikón: The Ghostly Corporealities of Urban Strays in Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s Space Dogs.” Accepted for publication in Society & Animals.
- “Gondoskodó (vissza)pillantás. Ápolók és a koronavírus idős áldozatai A segítség című brit tévéfilmben.” Filológiai Közlöny vol. 69, no. 1, 2023, 81-107.
- “Kutyák a hollywoodi filmes konstrukciók küszöbén.” Antrozoológiai könyvek I. - Tanulmányok az ember és állat kapcsolat értelmezéséhez I. Debrecen: University of Debrecen, Anthrozoology Research Group, 2023, 144-160. https://antrozoologiakutatocsoport.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/konyv-tanulmanyok-az-ember-es-allat-kapcsolat-ertelmezeserol-i.pdf.
- „Az én szívem végtelen”: Az elfogadás poszthumanista allegóriája A kutya, akit Macskának hívnak című képeskönyv-sorozatban. Mesecentrum 13 June, 2023. https://mesecentrum.hu/esszektanulmanyok/az-en-szivem-vegtelen.html.
- “Filmes korcsosulás: Eb és ember mediális keveredése a Kutyám, Tulipán című animációs filmben.” Apertúra, 2022. ősz. URL: https://www.apertura.hu/2022/osz/laszlo-filmes-korcsosulas-eb-es-ember-medialis-keveredese-a-kutyam-tulipan-cimu-animacios-filmben.
DOI: 10.31176/apertura.2022.18.1.5 - “Cynematographic Doubling: Dogs’ Phenomenal Presence in Hollywood Feature Films.” Humanimalia vol. 13, no. 1, 2022, 111-162. https://doi.org/10.52537/humanimalia.10936.
- “Felnyitott seb(ezhetőség)ek. A FŰZ művészeti csoport megmutatkozó kiállítása.” Report. Helikon 2022/1, 233-240.
- “Friendly Encounters with Literary Animals.” Review. The Palgrave Handbook of Animals and Literature. Edited by McHugh, Susan, et al. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies vol. 27, no 2, 2021, 448-452. https://doi.org/10.30608/HJEAS/2021/27/2/17.
- “Túlélőhalottak: A poszttraumás állapot, a gyász és a gyógyulás fenomenológiája az Akik maradtak (2019) című filmben.” Apertúra vol. 16, no. 4, Magyar Egyetemi Filmdíj, 2021. https://doi.org/10.31176/apertura.2021.16.4.3.
- “Human-Canine Vulnerability in Contemporary Cinema.” In Culture and Art in Contemporary Context: V International Scientific Conference. Ed. Sopio Tavadze. Batumi: The Batumi Art State Teaching University Publishing House, 2021. 317-325.
- “Non-Human Precarity: Wasted Human-Canine Kinships in Two Contemporary Documentaries.” In Representations of Social Inequality in 21st Century Global Art Cinema. Ed. Kalmár György. Debrecen: Debreceni Egyetemi Kiadó, 2021. 51-65.
- “Getting to the Bottom.” Review. Cinematic Echoes of Covenants Past and Present: National Identity in the Historical Films of Steven Spielberg and Andrzej Wajda, Christopher Garbowski, Berlin, Peter Lang, 2018. Studies in Eastern Europeam Cinema vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, 95-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040350X.2020.1855805.
- “Stories of Telltale Eyes: Filmic Gaze and Spectatorial Agency in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s A Short Film about Love, Ferzan Ozpetek’s Facing Windows and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.” The AnaChronist vol. 19, no. 1, 2019, 105-133. https://doi.org/10.53720/HQHZ9725.
- “Arc/más/kép(p): Az atipikus arc ábrázolási fordulata a Dirty God című filmben.” Apertúra Magazin, March 2020, http://magazin.apertura.hu/film/arc-mas-kepp-az-atipikus-arc-abrazolasi-fordulata-a-dirty-god-cimu-filmben/10258.
- Győri Zsolt, László Borbála. “Celluloid esküdtek.” Filmvilág Febr. 2020. 26-30.
- “Obituary: Sándor Sára (1933-2019).” Studies in Eastern Europeam Cinema vol. 11, no. 2, 2019, 231-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040350X.2019.1689484.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
- 29 November – 1 December 2023: The Factual Animal: Audiovisual Representations of Real Other-than-Human Animals, Valencia, “Phantosomeikón: The Ghostly Corporealities of Urban Strays in Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s Space Dogs.”
- 3-4 October 2023: Perspectives of the Human-Animal Relationship - 2nd International Anthrozoology Conference, Hajdúböszörmény, Hungary, “Bewildering the Human-Canine Bond: Reshaped Master-Pet Relationship in Kornél Mundruczó’s White God.”
- 22 September 2023: NYIM18 Konferencia: Át/változások, Szeged, Hungary, “Likantrópiák: fiktív és mediális átváltozások poszthumanista vonatkozásai a Farkasok népe című animációs filmben.”
- 15-17 May 2023: Recent Approaches to the Posthuman: Cultural Reflections on the (Post-)Human Condition, Zaragoza, “Anthrokynematic Triangle: The Transformative Relationship of Humans, Dogs and Paul Fierlinger’s Animation Films”
- 15-16 October 2022: The View from the Anthropocene, Debrecen, “Kynemorphosis: A Case of Mutual Transformation between Dogs and Cinema”
- 4 October 2022: Az ember-állat kapcsolat perspektívái - Antrozoológiai konferencia, Hajdúböszörmény, Hungary, “Kutyák a hollywoodi filmes konstrukciók küszöbén”
- 13-16 September 2022: Animals in the American Popular Imagination, online (PopMec Association for US Popular Culture Studies; Austrian Association for Cultural Studies, Cultural History and Popular Culture), “Finding the Real Paul Anka: A Critical Analysis of the Dog Character in Gilmore Girls”
- 27-29 January 2022: 15th Biennial HUSSE Conference, online (Budapest), “Not Just Truffles: A “Sumbiocentric” Documentary of the Piedmontese Truffle Culture”
- 26-27 June 2021: Crises of Care Conference: Pandemic Culture, Biopolitics and the Medical Humanities, online (Debrecen), “Bereaved of Closure: Coping with Loss in British TV Show Derek”
- 24-25 June 2021: Appraising Critical Animal Studies: 7th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Critical Animal Studies (EACAS), online (Centre for Human/Animal Studies, Edge Hill University Research Centre), “Canine Tooth: Human-Canine Vulnerability and Aggression in Amores Perros (2000), Wendy & Lucy (2008) and Los Reyes (2019)”
- 23-24 October 2021: Culture and Art in Contemporary Context, online (Batumi, Grúzia), “Human-Canine Vulnerability in Contemporary Cinema”
- 5-6 November 2021: A mozgókép és a digitális médiumok - A Magyar Filmtudományi Társaság éves konferenciája, Debrecen, „Ne nézz így rám…”: A CGI kutyaarc hatása eb és ember affektív kapcsolatára”
- 4-5 March 2021: Anthrozoology as International Practice: A Student Conference in Animal Studies, online (University of Exeter, UK), “Humanimality: Biopolitical and Bioethical Implications of the Human-Canine Relationship in Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs”
- 5 December 2020: Screen Cultures in the 21st Century, online (Debrecen), “Don’t look at me like that: The Impact of CG Dog Faces on the Human-Canine Bond”
- 5 February 2020: Adaptation – 21st Century Perspectives, Debrecen, “Defacing De Niro: Questions of Digital De-Aging in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman”
- 21-22 September 2018: Diversity – Performance – Society – Gender Studies and Gender Diversity in History and Today, Debrecen, “Perform or Perish: Portraying Performative Values of Gender Roles in Shameless”
- 20 March 2018: Ephemeral Cinema in Eastern Europe, Preston, UK, “Official videos for Eger’s and Debrecen’s bid for European Capital of Culture 2023”
CONFERENCE ORGANISATION:
- 3-4 October 2023. Perspectives of the human-animal relationship - 2nd International Anthrozoology Conference. University of Debrecen, Faculty of Education for Children and Special Educational Needs, co-organised by Dr. Antal Lovas Kiss and Dr. Ujhelyi Nelli.
- 15-16 October 2022: The View from the Anthropocene. Bilingual, international conference, Debrecen, co-organised by Dr. Bényei Tamás, Dr. Kalmár György, and Novák Zsófia.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
BA first year: British Civilization (University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies) in English
BA third year: Textual Creatures: Animals in Literature and Film (University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies)
ACTING AS SUPERVISOR FOR BA THESIS:
1. Sólyom Ivett: “Representation of the Horse in Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty”
2. Kondor Orsolya: “Anthropomorphic Animal Behaviour and Communication in Beatrix Potter’s Tales”
3. Zsíros Liza: Destruction of The “Promising Young Man”: Emerald Fennell’s Un/Usual Approach to Rape-Revenge Films
4. Nagy Gréta: The Therapeutic Effects of Dogs in Dog and Because Of Winn-Dixie
GRANTS
2022-2023: New National Excellence Programme, Higher Education Doctoral Student Researcher Grant, “The significance of cinematic and literary animal representations in the Anthropocene”
MEMBERSHIP IN SCHOLARLY ORGANIZATIONS:
2020-: HUSSE (Hungarian Society for the Study of English)
2020-: Hungarian Association of Film Studies
2022-: Anthrozoology research group, University of Debrecen
2023-: NECS Film Animals Workgroup
OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES:
- 29 September 2023: Researchers’ Night, University of Debrecen, co-organising the programme of the Anthrozoology Research Group of the University of Debrecen, running the program block titled “The Secret World of Cartoon Dogs”.
- 18 April 2023: IEAS Film Club, University of Debrecen, Institute of English and American Studies, chairing the discussion following the screening of EO (2022).
- 30 September 2022: Researchers’ Night, University of Debrecen, co-organising the programme of the Institute of English and American Studies, titled “English-American Linguistic and Cultural Journey”, running the program block titled “British Culture Quiz with Claymation Animals”
- 5 May 2022: Faculty Teahouse, , University of Debrecen, giving a talk titled “Egyik kutya, másik eb: A kutyák filmes reprezentációjáról”
- 31 January 2022: Neurotech EU Summit, “3 min thesis” presentation competition, finals, online, “Descent into "Uncanine" Valley – Problems of Facial Emotion Recognition and Bonding with CG Dogs in Mainstream Cinema”
- 7 December 2021: IEAS Film Club, MODEM, Debrecen, co-chairing the discussion following the screening of The Truffle Hunters (2020).
- 29-30 October 2021: Hungarian University Film Awards - Closing Workshop, Budapest.
- 24 September 2021: Researchers’ Night, University of Debrecen, co-organising the programme of the Department of British Studies, and giving a talk titled ““Fur baby”, avagy hogyan vált a kutya családtaggá Nagy-Britanniában az elmúlt két évszázad során”