Matthew Thompson

Matthew Thompson is a Lecturer in the English department at Washington University in St. Louis, and also serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. His research focuses on comparing British and postcolonial literature to examine imperial rhetoric's role in the world wars. Thompson’s current book project, Hell Shock: Colonialism, the World Wars, and the Underworlding of the British Empire, explores how writers across the British Empire used afterlife narratives to resist British propaganda.

Thompson teaches courses such as “Colonialism and Climate Change,” “Into Hell: Literary Descents to the Underworld,” and has instructed classes in composition and British/postcolonial literature. His published work includes an analysis of Mulk Raj Anand’s Across the Black Waters in the Journal of Modern Literature (2023), with a forthcoming article on Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in Twentieth-Century Literature.

Thompson’s research interests bridge postcolonial studies and world war history, emphasizing how literary narratives challenge imperial narratives. His courses reflect a commitment to interdisciplinary approaches, linking literature to broader historical and cultural contexts.