Professor Hugh Chignell
- 07799643970
- hchignell@bournemouth.ac.uk
- Emeritus Professor
- Weymouth House W409, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
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Biography
I am Professor of Media History at Bournemouth University and I coordinate the History Research Group and lecture on B.A. History. My main interest and expertise is the history of radio and I have in recent years moved from a particular focus on radio news and current affairs to the study of radio drama. I tend to focus on the work of one writer or producer (for example Sam Hanna Bell, Louis MacNeice, Samuel Beckett, Giles Cooper) but I have also attempted more over arching or theoretical commentaries on broadcasting (see my list of publications). I am an active and founding member of EMHIS, the European network around 'Entangled Media Histories' and accept the case for a more transnational approach to media history. My history of post-war British radio drama was published in 2019 by Bloomsbury Academic and I am now researching a biography of Lance Sieveking with the American modernist academic, Todd Avery.
I am currently supervising 4 PhD students and regularly examine PhDs.
Favourites
- Chignell, H., 2019. BRITISH RADIO DRAMA, 1945-63.
Journal Articles
- Hilgert, C., Cronqvist, M. and Chignell, H., 2020. Introduction: ‘Tracing Entanglements in Media History’. Media History, 26 (1), 1-5.
- Terkanian, K. and Chignell, H., 2019. Nesta Pain: the entangled media producer. Media History, 26 (1), 20-33.
- Chignell, H., 2017. British radio drama and the avant-garde in the 1950S. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 37 (4), 649-664.
- Chignell, H., 2015. Out of the Dark: Samuel Beckett and BBC Radio. Peripeti, 22, 11-21.
- Chignell, H., 2013. BBC radio news and current affairs and the Suez crisis. Media History, 19 (1), 93-106.
- Chignell, H., 2013. BBC radio news and current affairs and the Suez crisis. Media History.
- Chignell, H., 2012. BBC Radio Four's Analysis and the Third Way. Media, Culture and Society, 34 (4), 488-497.
- Chignell, H., 2012. BBC Radio Four’s Analysis and the Third Way. Media, Culture and Society, 34, 490-499.
- Chignell, H., 2011. Book Review: The BBC and national identity in Britain, 1922-53 Thomas Hajkowski. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2010, ISBN: 9780719079443;. Reviews in History.
- Chignell, H., 2009. Gregory Ferrell Lowe and Jo Bardoel (eds), From public service broadcasting to public service media. Göteborg: Nordicom, 2007. SEK280/€30. 259 pp. European Journal of Communication, 24 (3), 348-350.
- Chignell, H., 2009. Bournemouth Media Archive. Critical Studies in Television, 4.
- Chignell, H., 2009. From Public Service Broadcasting to Public Service Media. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, 24 (3), 348-350.
- Chignell, H., 2007. The London Broadcasting Company (LBC) and Independent Radio News (IRN) Archive. Twentieth Century British History, 18, 514-525.
- Devlin, J. and Chignell, H., 2007. John Peel's Home Truths. The Radio Journal, 4, 69-81.
- Chignell, H., 2006. The birth of BBC Radio 4's Analysis. Journal of Radio Studies, 13, 89-102.
- Chignell, H., 2003. BBC Radio 4's Analysis and Africa. How the flagship current affairs programme covered Africa in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Radio Journal, 1, 101-112.
Books
- Chignell, H., 2019. BRITISH RADIO DRAMA, 1945-63.
- Franklin, I., Chignell, H. and Skoog, K., 2015. Regional Aesthetics: Mapping UK Media Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Holland, P., Chignell, H. and Wilson, S., 2013. Broadcasting and the NHS in the Thatcherite 1980s: The Challenge to Public Service.
- Chignell, H., 2011. Public Issue Radio: Talks, news and current affairs in the twentieth century. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave MacMillan.
- Chignell, H., 2009. Key Concepts in Radio Studies. London: Sage.
Chapters
- Chignell, H., 2015. Sam Hanna Bell and the ideology of place. In: Franklin, I., Chignell, H. and Skoog, K., eds. Regional Aesthetics: Mapping UK Media Cultures. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
- Chignell, H., 2014. Radio drama. The Routledge Companion to British Media History. 356-365.
- Chignell, H., 2011. Radio Studies. In: Ryan, M., ed. Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1235.
- Chignell, H., 2008. Change and Reaction in BBC Current Affairs Radio, 1928 – 1970. In: Bailey, M., ed. Narrating Media History. London: Routledge, 36-47.
- McCain, J., Chignell, H. and Holland, M., 2001. The Use of Online Databases in a University Broadcasting Archive. Case studies of the construction of databases for BBC Radio 4's Analysis and ITV's This Week. In: Deegan, M., Fraser, M. and Williamson, N., eds. Digital evidence: selected papers from DRH2000 (Digital Resources for the Humanities Conference, University of Sheffield, September 2000).. Office for Humanities Communication.
Conferences
- Chignell, H., 2022. Public listening to radio. In: The Radio Conference. 5-8 July 2016 Utrecht.
- Chignell, H., 2018. Public listening to radio. In: Transnational Radio Encounters 5-8 July 2016 Utrecht.
- Chignell, H., Holland, M. and McCain, J., 2001. The use of online databases in a university broadcasting archive. Case studies of the construction of databases for BBC Radio 4's Analysis and ITV's This Week. In: Fraser, M., Nigel, W. and Deegan, M., eds. Digital evidence : selected papers from DRH2000, Digital Resources for the Humanities Conference September 2000 University of Sheffield. , 65-78 Office for Humanities Communication: London.
Reports
- Chignell, H., 2013. The BBC, Radio Archives and the Role of the Academic Researcher. Bournemouth University: Centre for Media history.
- Chignell, H., 2009. LBC/IRN Archive Teaching and Learning Case Study. Poole, England: Bournemouth University.
- Chignell, H., 2003. BBC Handbooks, Accounts and Annual Reports, 1927-2001/2. Introduction to the microfilm edition. Wakefield: Microform Academic Publishers. Available from: http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R97602.pdf.
Theses
- Chignell, H., 2004. BBC Radio 4's Anaylsis, 1970-1983. PhD Thesis. Bournemouth University; Media School.
Software
- Holland, P., Chignell, H., Wilson, S., Eglezou, G., Wray, E. and McQueen, D., 2010. "There's no such thing as society?" A Study of broadcasting and the public services under the three Thatcher governments, 1979-1992. Poole, England: Southern Broadcasting History Group. Available from: http://www.nosuch-research.co.uk/.
Invited Lectures
-
Radio Drama's Golden Age, University of Massachusetts Lowell., 20 Feb 2019 more
A lecture at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in their English department. The lecture drew on my recent research on post-war radio drama and included a short extract from the previously unheard classic radio drama, an adaptation of Ionesco's 'Rhinoceros'. The talk was hosted by the professor of English at Lowell, Todd Avery.
External Responsibilities
- University of Lund, Sweden, Visiting Fellow (2012-)
- UK Radio Archives Advisory Committee, Chair and Founder member (2012-)
Public Engagement & Outreach Activities
- Lecture on Marconi at the Haven hotel (25 Feb 2019)
- Giles Cooper Celebration at the British Library (02 Dec 2016)
Conference Presentations
- The international perspective on a radio cnetury., Listening to historic radio drama., 06 Nov 2019, Hilversum, Netherlands
- The Radio Conference, Radio drama's 'golden age'., 10 Jul 2018, University of Monash, Prato, Italy.
- Media and Fear, Cold war fears in post war British radio drama, 16 Mar 2017, University of Lund
Honours
- Fellow (F.R.Hist.S) (Royal Historical Society)
Memberships
- MeCCSA, Member (2001-), http://www.meccsa.org.uk/
- Centre for Media History, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Honorary Associate Member,
