Inhaltspezifische Aktionen

Dr. Deborah de Muijnck

Über mich

Dr. Deborah de Muijnck ist promovierte Anglistin, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin (PostDoc) und Koordinatorin der Internationalisierungstätigkeiten am GCSC.

Hintergrund: Von 2019 bis 2023 war sie wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Englische Literaturwissenschaft der RWTH Aachen, wo sie 2022 ihre Dissertation abschloss. Im Jahr 2023 war sie als Institutional Affiliate am Institute for World Literature an der Harvard University, im Jahr 2024 als Visiting Research Fellow am Zentrum für Kulturwissenschaften der Karl-Franzens-Universität, Graz, und 2026 als Visiting Research Fellow am English Department der Universität Stockholm. 
Als Redakteurin arbeitete sie in Köln, Berlin, Dortmund, München und Aachen und reiste von 2016 bis zu ihrer Ansiedlung in der Wissenschaft im Jahr 2019 als analoge Fotografie-Künstlerin rund um den Globus.

Lehre: Ihr Lehrportfolio umfasst den Bereich von der Literatur der Frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwartsliteratur, einschließlich englischsprachiger Weltliteratur wie Aboriginal- und Maori-Erzählungen. Seit Frühjahr 2019 hat sie Seminare, Workshops, Masterclasses und Vorlesungen an renommierten Institutionen in Europa unterrichtet, darunter die RWTH Aachen (Deutschland), die Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Österreich), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (Deutschland), die Universität Bergamo (Italien), Universität Witten/Herdecke (Deutschland), Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (Deutschland), Universität Groningen (Niederlande) und an der Cátolica Universität Lissabon (Portugal). 

Forschung: Ihre Forschungsinteressen wurzeln in der Skandalliteratur ab dem 18. Jahrhundert, in der Narratologie, und in der empirischen Ökokritik.

  • Narration, Kultur, und Identität: In ihrer Dissertation mit dem Titel Cultural Models of Narrative Identity: The Case of Military Autobiographical Writing untersucht sie, wie britische Soldaten und Veteranen ihre Identität nach Kriegserlebnissen durch autobiografisches Erzählen rekonstruieren. Weitere Publikationen wie Pandemic Storytelling (Brill, 2025) und Poetics of Disturbances (Brill, 2024) befassen sich mit dem wechselseitigen Einfluss von Pandemien und Narrativität, dem Einfluss nicht-normativer Lebenserfahrungen auf das Erzählen und der wechselseitigen Beziehung zwischen Erzählung, Kultur und Identität (Routledge Companion, 2025).
  • Literaturskandale: Ihre zweite Monographie (Habilitation) widmet sich dem literarischen Skandal als einer Form kultureller Überschreitung in Großbritannien vom 18. bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. In diesem Rahmen untersucht sie, wie ästhetische Formen Anstoß erregen, öffentliche Debatten auslösen und gesellschaftliche Normen herausfordern. Forthcoming articles zu diesem Forschungsschwerpunkt erscheinen in renommierten internationalen Fachzeitschriften wie Style, Storyworlds und Frontiers of Narrative Studies. Darüber hinaus editiert sie gemeinsam mit Tero Vanhanen (Universität Helsinki) das Special Issue Narratives of Scandal and Shock für das internationale, peer-reviewed Journal Frontiers of Narrative Studies (De Gruyter).
  • Postkoloniale Ökokritik: Dr. de Muijnck war Investigatorin des von NextGenerationEU (2024-2025) finanzierten Projekts Narratives for Ecological and Sustainable Transition (NEST). NEST vereint Postdocs von verschiedenen europäischen Universitäten, um die globalen Herausforderungen des Klimawandels durch die Untersuchung von Narrativen zu bewältigen, die das Bewusstsein schärfen, ethische Bedenken ansprechen und alternative Lösungen anbieten. Ihr Forschungsfokus liegt auf dem Transformationspotential zeitgenössischer, indigen-australischer Narrative. 

Akademische Koordination: In ihrer Rolle als akademische Koordinatorin konzipiert, organisiert und leitet sie (inter)nationale Forschungsveranstaltungen wie Konferenzen, Sommerschulen und Symposien und koordiniert die binationalen Promotionsverfahren am Zentrum. Sie arbeitet besonders eng mit unseren Partneruniversitäten Stockholm, Helsinki, Warwick, Graz, Bergamo und der Cátolica in Lissabon sowie mit den beteiligten Universitäten des ESSCS zusammen. Sie leitet die Veröffentlichung von netzwerkbezogenen Forschungsergebnissen, unterstützt das Internationalisierungsmanagement strategisch und unterrichtet Seminare in Forschung und Selbstmanagement, akademischem Schreiben und Mental Health in High-Stress Situations. 

Grants, Nominations, und Awards: Europäische Union/NextGenerationEU, italienisches Ministerium für Universität und Forschung (MUR) - Fondo Promozionee Sviluppo durch die DM 737/2021*, Martin Buber Society of Fellows, Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie, und Raumfahrt

ORCID-ID: 0000-0002-7863-2011

Kontakt

deborah.demuijnck

Publikationen

Monographs

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. Aesthetic Forms and Cultural Offense: Patterns of Literary Scandals in Britain from the 18th–21st Century. In progress.

  • —. Narrative Identity After Combat: The Cognitive and Cultural Work of Storytelling. Explorations in Narrative Psychology series. Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.

  • —. Cultural Models of Narrative Identity: The Case of Military Autobiographical Writing. RWTH Aachen Publications, 2022. Dissertation.

Edited Special Issues

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, with Anna Klishevich and Kirsten von Hagen, editors. Narratives at Work: Affordances, Constraints, and the Potential of Storytelling. Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, volume. 20.2, in progress.
  • de Muijnck, Deborah, and Tero Vanhanen, editors. Special issue Narratives of Scandal and Shock: Transgression, Media, and Cultural Response. Frontiers of Narrative Studies, vol. 12, 01/2026.
  • Rozzoni, Stefano, Deborah de Muijnck, Maria Jordet, Nikolai Skiveren, and Nikoleta Zampaki, editors. Special cluster N.E.S.T.: Narratives for Environmental and Sustainable Transitions. Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, vol. 11, no. 1, July 2025.

Edited Volumes

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, with Anna Klishevich, Elisabeth Waghall-Nivre, and Joakim Wrethed, editors. A Reading Crisis? The Challenges of Reading Generally and Reading Fiction Specifically. Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, forthcoming.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, editor. Troubling Time(s): Questioning Prevailing Notions of Time in the Study of Literature and Culture. WVT, 2025.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, Jan Alber, and Jessica Jumpertz, editors. Pandemic Storytelling. Brill, 2025.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, Ralf Schneider, Jessica Jumpertz, and Teresa Turnbull, editors. Poetics of Disturbances: Narratives of Non-Normative Minds and Bodies. Brill, 2024.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “The Affective, Embodied, and Cognitive Dimensions of Literary Scandals: ‘Performative Disgust’ and the Case of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Style, forthcoming.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, and Jan Alber. “Obsession, Delusion, and the Abuse of Power: Narrative Techniques of Neutralization in Nabokov’s Scandalous Lolita.” Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies, forthcoming.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “Before She Knew: Unreliable Narration and the Long Arc of Victimhood in My Dark Vanessa.” Frontiers of Narrative Studies, Special Issue on Narratives of Scandal and Shock, vol. 12, 01/2026.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, and Tero Vanhanen. “Introduction: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Cultural Debates Surrounding Narratives of Scandal and Shock.” Frontiers of Narrative Studies, Special Issue on Narratives of Scandal and Shock, vol. 12, 01/2026.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “Affective Engagement, Deep Time, and Applied Reading: A Qualitative Study on the Impact of Contemporary Aboriginal Short Stories on Environmental Awareness.” Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory,vol. 11, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 64–86. doi:10.24193/mjcst.2025.19.03.

  • Rozzoni, Stefano, Deborah de Muijnck, Maria Jordet, Nicolai Skiveren, et al., editors. “Introduction: Narratives for Ecological and Sustainable Transition(s): Transdisciplinary Approaches.” Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, vol. 11, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 4–14.

  • Rozzoni, Stefano, Deborah de Muijnck, Maria Jordet, and Nikoleta Zampaki. “Towards ‘Nesting’ in the Environmental Humanities: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Narratives Across Theory and Practices.” Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, vol. 11, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 15–38. doi:10.24193/mjcst.2025.19.01.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “Narrative, Memory, and PTSD: A Case Study of Autobiographical Narration After Trauma.” European Journal of Life Writing, vol. 11, Apr. 2022, pp. 75–95.

  • —. “When Breath Becomes Air: Constructing Stable Narrative Identity during Terminal Illness.” Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique, no. 38, 2019, pp. 44–69.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Edited Volumes

  • “Cultural Models of Narrative Identity as Salutogenic Sense-Making Strategies in Illness Narratives.” Cognition, Culture, Narrative, edited by Ansgar Nünning and Vera Nünning, De Gruyter, 2025, pp. 149-172.

  • “Salutogenesis and Young Adult Fiction. Establishing Cognitive and Affective Balance in Contemporary Sick-Lit” New Conjunctures and Directions in Literary and Cultural Studies, edited by Ansgar Nünning, Magdalena Pfalzgraf, and Anna Tabouratzidis, Narr, 2025, 223-244.

  • Alber, Jan, Deborah de Muijnck, and Jessica Jumpertz. “Introduction: What Is Pandemic Storytelling?” Pandemic Storytelling, edited by Jan Alber, Deborah de Muijnck, and Jessica Jumpertz, Brill, 2025.

  • “The Transformative Power of Literature in Challenging Eras: Time, Trouble, and Hope for the Future.” Troubling Time(s): Questioning Prevailing Notions of Time in the Study of Literature and Culture,edited by Deborah de Muijnck, WVT, 2025.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, Ralf Schneider, Jessica Jumpertz, and Teresa Turnbull. “Introduction: Poetics of Disturbances.” Poetics of Disturbances: Narratives of Non-Normative Minds and Bodies, edited by Deborah de Muijnck, Ralf Schneider, Jessica Jumpertz, and Teresa Turnbull, Brill, 2024.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, Francesca Wessing, Nalin Camur, and Linda Wetzel. “Plot.” Introduction to Cognitive Narratology, edited by Jan Alber and Peter Wenzel, vol. 24, WVT, 2021, pp. 119–42.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah, and Ralf Schneider. “Methods of Reception Theory and Cognitive Approaches: From Reception Aesthetics to Cognitive Poetics.” Methods of Textual Analysis in Literary Studies: Approaches, Basics, Model Interpretations, edited by Vera Nünning and Ansgar Nünning, vol. 23, WVT, 2020, pp. 251–72.

Articles in Handbooks and Encyclopedias

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “Narrative, Culture, and Identity.” The Routledge Companion to Literature and Cognitive Studies, edited by Jan Alber and Ralf Schneider, Routledge, 2025.

  • —. “Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell / Piranesi.” Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), edited by Heinz Ludwig Arnold, J.B. Metzler, 2023, pp. 1–2.

  • —. “Clarke, Susanna.” Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), edited by Heinz Ludwig Arnold, J.B. Metzler, 2023, p. 1.

Reviews

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. Review of Unlived Lives in English Literature: A Typological Study, by Lena Linne. Anglia,vol. 138, no. 4, Nov. 2020, pp. 730–33.

Mitgliedschaften

International Society for the Study of Narrative

BritCult

Deutscher Anglistikverband

Forschungsinteressen

Literary Scandals in English Literature from the 18th - 21st Century, Cognitive Narratology, Ecocriticism, Medical Humanities, Contemporary Maori and Aboriginal Storytelling

Ausgewählte Vorträge

09/2025: “Normalizing the Scandalous: Reading Klara and the Sun in the Age of LLMs.” Anglistiktag 2025, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), 22.09.2025.

06/2025: “Contested Authorship: Literary Scandals and the Polarizing Reception of AI Generated Literature.” BrAIve New Worlds Conference, Karl-Franzens University Graz (Austria), 21.06.2025.

05/2025: “Hyperbolic Extensions and Affective Eruptions: A Comparative Reading of Fanny Hill, Pamela, and Shamela.” Invited Speaker, Ongoing Work Seminar, Stockholm University (Sweden), 05.2025.

04/2025: “Obsession, Delusion, and the Abuse of Power: Narrative Techniques of Neutralisation in Nabokov’s Scandalous Lolita.” Narrative 2025 Conference, Florida State University (Miami, USA), 02.04.2025.

11/2024: “The Embodied Nature of Literary Scandals: Cultural Transgression, ‘Performative Disgust’, and the Case of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Britcult Conference, Innsbruck University (Austria), 23.11.2024.

06/2024: “Literary Scandals as Culture Wars – ‘A Little Wilder’ and the Case of Dorian Gray.” Culture at War Summer School, Católica University Lisbon (Portugal), 27.06.2024.

04/2024: “The Embodied Nature of Literary Scandals: Cultural Transgression, ‘Performative Disgust’, and the Case of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Narrative 2024 Conference, Newcastle University (United Kingdom), 18.04.2024.

09/2023: “Cultural Models of Narrative Identity as Post-Trauma Sense-Making Strategies.” Anglistiktag 2023, Section: Narratives of Health and Illness, University of Leipzig (Germany), 25.09.2023.

07/2023: “Cosmodernism and New World Literature: Conceptualizations of Home(-sickness), Moral Values, and Sense of Obligation in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Gravel Heart.” New World Literature and Postcolonialism Colloquium, Harvard University (USA), 19.07.2023.

06/2023: Invited Guest Speaker, Narrative Research Roundtable (with Sylvie Patron, Hanna Meretoja, Jan Alber, Molly Andrews, Richard Walsh, John Pier, Mari Hatavara). Narrative Matters Conference, Tampere University (Finland), 15.06.2023.

06/2023: “Cosmodernism and New World Literature: Conceptualizations of Home(-sickness), Moral Values, and Sense of Obligation in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Gravel Heart.” Narrative Matters Conference, Tampere University (Finland), 16.06.2023.

Organisation von akademischen Veranstaltungen (ausgewählt)

  • 05/2025: University of Bergamo (Italy). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the international conference Narratives for Ecological and Sustainable Transitions. Keynote speakers: Dr. Deborah de Muijnck (JLU), Dr. Stefano Rozzoni (University of Bergamo), Dr. Maria Jordet (Inland University Norway), Dr. Nicolai Skiveren (Christchurch University).

  • 05/2025: Stockholm University (Sweden). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the 6th PhDnet Doctoral Symposium, together with Prof. Joakim Wrethed (SU) and Prof. Elisabeth Wåghäll-Nivre (SU). Keynote speakers: Prof. Vera Nünning (Heidelberg University), Prof. Elisabeth Wåghäll-Nivre (SU). 14.–16.05.2025.

  • 02/2025: Cátolica University Lisbon (Portugal). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the 5th PhDnet Doctoral Symposium, together with Prof. Peter Hanenberg (UCP), Dr. Ana Margarida Abrantes (UCP), and Dr. Diana Gonçalves (UCP). Keynote speakers: Prof. Isabel Gil (UCP), Prof. Vera Nünning (Heidelberg University). 12.–14.02.2025.

  • 10/2024: Stockholm University (Sweden). Co-conception and co-organisation of the conference A Reading Crisis? The Challenges and Affordances of Reading Fiction, together with Prof. Elisabeth Wåghäll-Nivre (SU) and Prof. Joakim Wrethed (SU). Keynote speaker: Prof. Merja Polvinen (University of Helsinki). 10.–11.10.2024.

  • 05/2024: Karl-Franzens University Graz (Austria). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the symposium Emerging Concepts in the Study of Culture, together with Prof. Christine Schwanecke (KFU) and Dr. Angela Gencarelli (KFU). 09.–11.05.2024.

  • 02/2024: University of Bergamo (Italy). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the 3rd PhDnet Doctoral Symposium, together with Prof. Raul Calzoni (BU) and Dr. Alessandra Goggio (BU). Guest speaker: Prof. emer. Angela Locatelli (University of Bergamo). 08.–10.02.2024.

  • 11/2023: Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the conference Literary Scandals as Forms of Cultural Transgression, together with Prof. Jan Alber (JLU Giessen). Keynote speaker: Prof. Stephan Karschay (FU Berlin). 09.–10.11.2023.

  • 09/2023: University of Warwick (United Kingdom). Conception, co-organisation, and co-coordination of the 2nd PhDnet Doctoral Symposium, together with Prof. Elisabeth Herrmann (Warwick) and Dr. James Hodkinson (Warwick). Guest speaker: Prof. Fabio Camilletti (Warwick). 20.–22.09.2023.

  • 06/2023: Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany). Organisation and coordination of the European Summer School in Cultural Studies (ESSCS) in cooperation with the TransHumanities network (University of Bern). Topic: Bouncing Forward: Future Narratives, Scenarios, and Transformations in the Study of Culture. Keynote speakers: Prof. Ansgar Nünning (JLU Giessen), Prof. Ursula Heise (UCLA, online), Prof. Jörg Metelmann (University of St. Gallen), Prof. Susie O’Brien (McMaster University). 19.–23.06.2023.

  • 05/2023: University of Helsinki (Finland). Conception, organisation, and coordination of the 1st PhDnet Doctoral Symposium, together with Prof. Riikka Rossi (UH) and Prof. Heta Pyrhönen (UH). Guest speakers: Dr. Jan Rupp (JLU Giessen), Dr. Anna Ovaska (University of Tampere), Dr. Natalya Bekhta (University of Tampere). 24.–26.05.2023.

  • 11/2020–04/2021: RWTH Aachen University (Germany). Conception, organisation, and management of the international online event series Pandemic Storytelling. Guest speakers included: Prof. Erica Charters (Oxford University), Prof. Rita Charon (Columbia University), Prof. Elena Semino (Lancaster University), Prof. Jarmila Mildorf (Paderborn University), Prof. Stefan Iversen (Aarhus University), Prof. Molly Andrews (University of East London), Prof. Christoph Ernst (University of Bonn), Prof. Jens Schröter (University of Bonn), Prof. Ansgar Nünning (JLU Giessen), Prof. Vera Nünning (Heidelberg University), Prof. Jim Phelan (Ohio State University), Prof. Marina Grishakova (University of Tartu), Dr. Anneke Sools (University of Twente). 11/2020–04/2021.