Postdoc position ‘Conceptions of Europe in Early Modern Literature, 1517-1713’ (0.8 FTE)

Utrecht University, Netherlands

Updated: over 2 years ago
Deadline: 08 Nov 2021

As part of Dr. Lieke Stelling’s NWO-funded VIDI project

Discovering Europe in the Early Modern Period: How Literary Bestsellers Shaped a Diverse Community, 1517-1713

, Utrecht University is recruiting a Postdoc Researcher. In cooperation with the other project members, the Postdoc will work on their own sub-project

Polyglot Plots: European Multilingualism and the Literary Bestseller 1517-1713

. Focusing on representations and manifestations of multilingualism, the Researcher will study how early modern fictional narratives, in terms of both content and material form, contributed to conceptions of Europeanness as a diverse community.

This subproject is one of three closely related projects (the other two on cities and religious pluralism) that explore the role of literature in the development of an understanding of Europe as a shared cultural space. The main corpus for all three projects consists of fictional narratives that were published in print across Europe in at least four different languages.

In collaboration with cultural institutions in Brussels and Mechelen, and a wide network of international scholars, the VIDI project will offer thought-provoking alternative views of Europeanness to the (future) shapers of European democracy. This Postdoc project provides a great opportunity to work in a dedicated, multilingual research environment that offers a variety of training programmes and possibilities to acquire international research experience. A more detailed research outline, including potential source material, may be obtained from Dr. Stelling.

The tasks of the Postdoc include:

  • literary and book-historical analysis of early modern fictional narratives in two or more languages;
  • active participation in the meetings of the project research group and affiliated projects;
  • co-organizing outreach activities and the project conference;
  • publishing co-edited journal theme issue with the PI;
  • presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
  • writing two peer reviewed articles.

You will be based at the Utrecht Department of Languages, Literature and Communication (TLC), and will be affiliated to the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON), both of which provide a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment.


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