Victoria Turner

Dr. Victoria Turner is a Senior Lecturer in French at the University of St Andrews, affiliated with the School of Modern Languages and the Institute of Medieval Studies. She joined St Andrews in 2014 after completing a PhD at the University of Warwick (2013) and holding Teaching Fellowships at Warwick (2012-13) and Leeds (2013-14). Her research focuses on medieval French and Occitan literature, particularly intersections of race, gender, religion, and fairy tale traditions. She leads projects like 'Retelling Medieval Tales' to diversify medieval narratives and challenges Eurocentric interpretations.

Teaching includes Honours modules such as FR4116 (Medieval Marvels), FR4117 (Politics of Medieval France), and CO4027 (Folk and Fairy Tales). At postgraduate level, she teaches Mediaeval Language, Approaches to Mediaeval Studies, and Directed Reading. She supervises PhD students in medieval French/Occitan studies and welcomes inquiries in related topics.

Her current research explores three strands: reimagining medieval tales for modern audiences, analyzing the legacy of Aucassin et Nicolette, and re-evaluating medieval French epics through fairy tale frameworks. She serves as President of the British Branch of the Société Internationale Rencesvals and previously as UK Director of the International Medieval Society of Paris (2015–2019).

Her publications include monographs on medieval race theory and edited volumes on medieval books and language. Her work bridges critical theory with medieval textual analysis, emphasizing the socio-political dimensions of medieval narratives.