Elvis Coimbra Gomes
PhD in Linguistics
About Me
I hold a BA in Film Studies and an MA degree in English Language & Literature from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), and a PhD in Linguistics from Queen Mary University of London. My thesis (that you can find here) was supervised by Prof. Erez Levon and Dr. Olivia Knapton. I also possess an MA degree in pedagogy from the Haute École Pédagogique Vaud (Switzerland) that gives me the permission to teach English in Swiss middle, high and professional schools (secondary 1 + 2 levels).
Some people may find it difficult to pronounce my last name. The "C" in "Coimbra" is pronounced like the "c" in "cat" and the "oi" like in "going". Here is a phonetic transcription that might help you: ˈɛlvɪs 'kɔimbɹɑ 'gəʊmɛs
I'm currently co-editing the book series "Language, Discourse and Mental Health" with the University of Exeter Press. Get in touch, if you'd like to publish your work with us.
I strive to conduct truly interdisciplinary, cutting-edge, and impactful research. As such, I apply qualitative and quantitative tools from sociolinguistics (e.g., critical discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, ethnography) on two different fronts:
PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL
Focusing on sexuality and gender-related obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – e.g., Homosexual OCD (HOCD), Sexual Orientation OCD (SO-OCD), Pedophilia OCD (POCD), Transgender OCD (TOCD), Gender Identity (GI-OCD) – I am interested in exploring how affected people orient in their discourse towards normative ideas of selfhood, gender, sexuality and mental health. Related to this topic, I have collaborated with Prof. Heiko Motschenbacher.
Considering the lack of qualitative research on OCD, I also founded the conference/platform OCD in Society which was launched in 2019, and organized its 2021 and 2024 editions as well. The goal of the conference is to gather artists and scholars working on OCD from qualitative and arts-based perspectives to think about how OCD is constituted through culture, society and meaning.
SOCIOPOLITICAL LEVEL
I am also interested in understanding the different ways language and ideology get intertwined in discourse for social and political goals. For instance, I have explored with Dr. Stamatina Katsiveli the role of metonymy in anti-genderist discourse when framing feminist and LGBT+ groups as a dangerous Other.
