Stockholm university
Department of English

Maya Nalani Carlsson wins SWESSE award

- It’s such an honor, says student Maya Nalani Carlsson about winning the SWESSE essay award in English linguistics.

Josep Soler Cabonell and Maya Nalani Carlsson
Professor Josep Soler Carbonell and prize winner Maya Nalani Carlsson.

Maya won the prize for her undergraduate degree project “’Polites of society. I forgot.’ : Dissonance & Impoliteness in Neurodivergent Coded Characters”.

The project is simply put a study of impoliteness in film and television. Not much research has been done within this field previously, leaving much to be explored. Maya explains why she chose this particular topic:

- I’ve always been fascinated by literature and media and how we communicate a worldview through our portrayals of different communities. Looking into the pragmatics - more specifically, the pragmatic failure between characters - felt like a good way of exploring that, says Maya.

- To be honest though, the main reason I chose it was that it was fun and interesting. That and I simply love the movie Poor Things and the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she says.

The Swedish society for the study of English (SWESSE) was founded in 2005. The purpose of the association is to advance research and teaching of the English language, literature and culture in Sweden.

What do you think about the supervision and how are your overall experiences with the Department of English?
- The supervision was fantastic in my experience! I had Maria Kuteeva as my supervisor and I really appreciated her guidance. She was always engaged, constructive and structured, which worked really well for me, Maya says and continues:

- My overall experiences with the English institution have been great. I found a deep passion for both linguistics and literature during my English studies and that’s all thanks to my professors who made my studies so engaging.

What are you going to do next?
- After English, I moved on to study psychology which felt like a very natural transition. I am working towards a bachelor’s degree in psychology and will hopefully be able to incorporate my linguistic background, she explains.

- I actually work as a songwriter and music producer aside from my studies but have fallen in love with the world of research, especially in psychology and linguistics. I’m planning to apply for a master’s program within these fields after I finish my psychology degree, Maya concludes.

Link to thesis information in DiVA

Last updated: April 28, 2025

Source: Department of English

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