Dr Inna Livytska
Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Researcher for the DFG- funded project “Female Agency in English Narrative Fiction from the 19th to the 21st centuries: an Embodiment-focused Approach”
| Contact Information Department of English / Institut für Anglistik |
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Languages
English, German, Ukrainian, Polish, Russian
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8295-948X
Research Interests
- English Literature (the 19th to the 21st centuries)
- Narrative poetics and text linguistics
- Evolution of literary genres
- Semiotics, pragmatism, abductive inference
- Biosemiotics and autopoietic systems
- Discourse analysis
- Emotion-body-mind empirical research
- Philosophy of culture and mind
- Artificial Narrative Intelligence
Academic Appointments
| Since 2024 |
Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Researcher, Justus-Liebig University |
| 2022 – 2024 |
Philipp Schwartz Initiative Postdoctoral researcher, |
| 2021 – 2023 |
Associate Professor, Ph.D., Department of English, |
| 2020 – 2018 |
Postdoctoral research scholar, English Philology and Cross-cultural communication, |
| 2020 – 2008 |
Associate Professor, Ph.D., Chair of Germanic Languages Practice, |
| 2008 – 2006 |
Lecturer, Chair of Translation and Comparative Linguistics, |
Education
| 2020 – 2018 |
Habilitation thesis (unpublished). “Narrative discourse: Biosemiotic Principles of Writing”, Speciality: English Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv |
| 2008 – 2003 |
Graduate Studies, Speciality: Philology (Theory of Literature and Ukrainian Literature), Supervisor: Prof. Volodymyr Panchenko, Central Ukrainian State Pedagogical University |
| 1999 – 1994 |
MA (Distinction) in Applied Linguistics (English and German) |
Third-party funding
| 08/2024 |
Walter Benjamin DFG Grant 541082367 |
| 08/2022 – 07/2024 |
Philipp Schwartz Initiative Post-doctoral researcher Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation, RWTH Aachen |
| 08/2015 – 05/2016 |
Research Scholarship from the Austrian Scholarship Foundation, Institute of English and American Studies, Vienna University |
| 06/2012 – 07/2012 |
Distinguished Visiting scholar, California State University, Chico |
Administrative Positions
| 08/2018 – 09/2016 |
Vice-Dean in Studies and Methodology, Faculty of foreign languages, Central Ukrainian State Pedagogical University |
| 08/2015 – 10/2013 | Head of Science and Research Department, Central Ukrainian State University |
Teaching (Selection)
| SoSe 25/26 |
“Live, Laugh, and Play: Ludic Poetics of Young Sleuth Fiction (from Sherlock to Enola Holmes)”, BA course, Justus Liebig University. |
| SoSe 24/25 |
“Mind, Body and Emotions: How Narratives Work”, BA course, Justus Liebig University. |
| WS 22/23 |
“Introduction to Semiotics”, MA course, National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” |
| WS 21/22 |
“Introduction to Semiotics”, MA course, National University “Kyiv- Mohyla Academy” |
| SoSe 19/20 |
“English and American Literature from the 19th to 21st centuries”, BA course, Central Ukrainian State Pedagogical University |
| WS 18/19 |
“Text Interpretation”, MA course, Central Ukrainian State Pedagogical University |
Professional Memberships
| Since 10/2024 |
Founding member of the Ukrainian Semiotic Association |
| Since 09/2024 |
Elected Member of the Executive Board, International Association for Semiotic Studies |
| Since 01/2022 |
Member of the International Society for Studies of Narrative (ISSN) |
| Since 09/2018 |
Member of The International Society for the Biosemiotics Studies: Olomouc, CZ |
| Since 08/2018 |
Member of European Narratology Network: Brussels, Belgium |
| Since 09/2014 |
Individual member of EALTA (European Association of Language Testing and Assessment) |
Publications
Chapters (selection)
Water and Embodied Women´s Agency: Narrating Eco-emotions at the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries. In “The Wounded Earth: Narratives of Trauma, Ecology, and Memory” (Contemporary Studies on Language and Literature), Mauer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2026.
Reimagining Female Agency in Neo-Victorian Gothic: Playfulness and Loneliness of Enola Holmes on Page and Screen. In “Twenty-First Century Neo-Victorian Gothic: Deviance and Transgression on Page and Screen”. Longman (forthcoming)
“Emotions Go First, and the Words Only Follow: on Mimicry of Emotions in the Narrative Discourse”. In “Semiotics of Culture and Visual Communication. The Semiotics of Otherness-Nature as the Other: Empathy, Arts & Sustainability”. Cambridge Publishing. (forthcoming)
Peer-reviewed journals
Livytska, Inna. “Humans as Natural-Born Cyborgs: Scrutinizing AI´s Narrative Intelligence within the 5-E Cognition Framework”. Digital Age in Semiotics and Communication, 2025 (forthcoming).
Livytska, Inna. 2023. “Narrating Agency and a Reflective Self in Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry”. Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, vol. 11, no. 23, Dec. 2023, pp. 260-71.
Livytska, Inna. 2022. Landscape Semiotics of Subjectivity in the English Novel of the 19th Century. Linguistic and Conceptual Views of the World.
Livytska, Inna. 2021. Narrative Discourse as an Emergent Phenomenon: Global Semiotic Approach. Journal of Narrative and Language Studies 9 (16), pp. 57-67.
Livytska, Inna. 2019. The Art of Narration and Artificial Narrative Intelligence: Implications for Interdisciplinary Research. Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 7(13), pp. 309-318.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Modern Post-classical Narratology in the Light of Narrative Approaches. Research Bulletin of Taurida V.Vernadsky National University.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Linguo-bio-semiotic methodology for analyzing subjectivity in narrative discourse. Research Journal of Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University. Series: Philological Sciences (Linguistics). No 13, (in Ukrainian).
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Linguistic Potential of Biosemiotics in Sign Systems Research. Science and Education a New Dimension. Humanities and Social Sciences 38 (8), pp.37-39 (in Ukrainian).
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Possible Worlds Theory and Imaginary World of Fiction: Points of Interaction. Transcarpathian Philological Studies.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Gender Subjectivity in the Semiotic Domain of Narrative Discourse. Humanities science current issues. Volume 30, Issue 2, pp.285-289.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Turning Back to Nature: Perspectives of Biosemiotics in a Post-Pandemic Humanity. Postmodern Openings, 11(1Sup2), pp.07-11.
Livytska, Inna. 2021. An Exploration of Discoursal Identity: The Rhetoric of Narrative Writing. XLinguae, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April, pp.157-168.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Modelling female narrative identity in the context of Victorian ethos [Modeliuvannia zhinochoi naratyvnoi identychnosti v konteksti etosu Viktorianskoi epokhy]. Vìsnik Marìupolʹsʹkogo deržavnogo unìversitetu. Serìâ: Fìlologìâ. 22, s. 45-51.
Livytska, Inna. 2020. Modern Post-Classical Narratology in the light of narrative approaches.
Livytska; Inna. 2020. Semiotic Space of Subjectivity in the English Novel of the 19th Century. Scientific journal International Journal of Philology; Vol. 11, № 3 (2020).
Livytska, Inna. 2020. To the question of narrative identity in the light of phenomenology.
Livytska, Inna. 2019. Empathy and Qualia: An Intersemiotic View on Suffering Representation in Fiction. Conference proceedings The Iconization of Suffering in Literary and Interdisciplinary Perspectives; Apr 2019, Nitra, Slovakia.
Livytska, Inna. 2019. Subjectivity as object of linguistic analysis. International Humanitarian University Herald. Philology.
Livytska, Inna. "The Use of Hedging in Research Articles on Applied Linguistics" Journal of Language and Cultural Education, vol. 7, no. 1, Sciendo, 2019, pp. 35-53.
Livytska, Inna. 2019. Analytic overview of narrative theory and narrativity: modern epistemology of cognition. South Archive (Philological sciences).
Livytska, Inna. 2019. The quest for narratology in the light of the perspective International Humanitarian University Herald. Philology.
Livytska, Inna. Discourse as an Element of Literary Meta-language. Research Bulletin, Issue. 89 (5), Philological Sciences (Linguistics). 2010. pp. 255-259.
Livytska, Inna. Gender Markers´ Representation in Modern English Political Discourse. Research Bulletin, Issue. 96 (1), Philological Sciences (Linguistics). 2012, pp. 376-381.
Livytska, Inna. Sociolinguistic and institutional characteristics of the academic discourse (on the material of English academic articles). Conference proceedings “Modern Aspects of Linguistics and Teaching Methodology of Foreign Language and Literature” 9 -15 February 2015, Institute of Philology, Ivan Franko Zhytomyr National University. pp. 95-97.
Livytska, Inna. Academic Discourse: Levels and Peculiarities of Analysis. Research Bulletin, Issue. 90 (1), Philological Sciences (Linguistics). 2010, pp. 376-381.
Reviews
Navigating between Real and Virtual Story worlds. Bell, Alice, and Marie-Laure Ryan. Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology, edited by Alice Bell and Marie-Laure Ryan, U of Nebraska P, 2019, 354 pp.
Teaching Manuals and Handbooks
English Literature. (A Handbook for Undergraduate Students of English as Second Foreign Language). Edited by I.A. Livytska. Polygraph Terzia Publishing, 2010, 128 p.
Practical Course of English for Specialty “Language and Literature (German and English). KSPU, Kirovohrad, 2014, 186 p. (in co-authorship)
Conference Presentations (selection)
“Narrative Empathy and the Theory of Affect Revisited: The Trouble with Passions”. Neuroscience and the Theory of Affect Panel, MLA, 2026
“Biosemiotics of Futureless World and Post-Nuclear Catastrophe Humans in “The Child to Come: Life after the Human Catastrophe” in the Context of Russian War on Ukraine. XI ICCEES World Congress 2025, University College London, United Kingdom, 21-25 July 2025.
“Beauty, Agency, and Telos in Artistic Literary Discourse”, the NASS TALLINN / LOTMAN DAYS 2025 „The 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies along with the 15th Annual Lotman Days “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence “, Tallinn, Estonia, June 11–13, 2025.
“I am what I believe“: Dynamic Emotional States, Cultural Values and the Power of Narrative in a Semiotic Perspective”. Narrative Matters 2025. Disparate Narrative Worlds: Crisis, Conflict, and the Possibility of Hope. The American University of Paris, and Université Paris Cité, Paris, France, 13-16 May 2025.
“Narrative scaffolding and dynamic emotional situations: micro poetics of affect in the Victorian landscape,” the 40th Annual International Conference on Narrative, Miami, Florida, U.S.A., April 2 – 5, 2025.
“Biosemiotic and Cultural Dimensions of Emotions in the Narrative Discourse”. 16th World Congress IASS/AIS, Warsaw University, 2- 5 September 2024
“Emotions go first and words only follow...: on Mimicry of Emotions in the Narrative Discourse”. 5th International Conference on Semiotics of Culture and Visual Communication. The Semiotics of Otherness-Nature as the Other: Empathy, Arts & Sustainability, Cyprus University of Technology, 26 -28 June 2024
“Agency of the Narrating Subject” . Narrative Conference 2023. Austin, Dallas, (TX), 1-5 March 2023
“Biosemiotic Patterns of Agency Embodiment in the Narrative Discourse”. Gatherings in Biosemiotics, Olomouc, 27 June -1 July 2022
“Biosemiotic Principles of Narrative Writing”. Annual Conference of the Austrian Association of University Teachers of English (AAUTE), Salzburg, 29-30 April, 2022.
“Narrative Discourse: A Biosemiotic Approach”. 6. European Narratology Network Conference in Riga, Latvia, 15-16 September 2021
“Modelling Empathy in Fiction: Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or the Virtue Rewarded”. 6th International Online Conference New Dimensions of Philology - Languages, Literature, Linguistics, Culture, The Department of Philology, The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,The Mazovian State University in Płock, Poland 22 – 28 April 2020
“Semiotics of Subjective Semantic Space in the Narrative Discourse”. Annual Conference «English across Discourse, Culture, and Literature», Іnstitute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University, 15-16 April 2020
“Semiotics: Is the Meaning Alive?” Hradec Kralove Anglophone Conference, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, 26-29 March 2019
“Narrative Discourse as an Emergent System: Poetics of Intentionality“. Culture and Cognition in Language - 2. Rzeszow University, Poland, 25-26 April 2019
“Narrative writing as experiential and interpersonal process“. Annual Conference on Current Foreign Languages Teaching Issues in Higher Education, Sikorskyi Polytechnic University of Kyiv, 16 May 2019
“Empathy and Qualia: Intersemiotic View on Suffering Representation in Fiction“. Nitra Online Symposium: Iconization of suffering and its meaning in verbal, artistic and cultural frame I (Intersemiotic, interdisciplinary and intercultural examination), Nitra, Slovakia, 8-10 April 2019
“Event as a Cultural Concept: Ontological Perspective” Ukrainian Scientific Readings with Young Career Scholars‚ Philology at the beginning of the 21st сentury: Tradition and Innovations“. Іnstitute of Philology, Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, 4 -5 April 2019
“The Art of Narration and Artificial Narrative Intelligence“. 8th International Conference on Narrative & Language Studies, Karadeniz Technical University, 2-3 May, 2019
“A hundred years of narrative: obtaining a lost self and gaining a new vision of fiction text interpretation in the 21st century“ „A hundred years, a thousand meanings”, SDAS Conference„ Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19- 21 September 2019
“Emergence of meaning in fictional discourse: a biosemiotic approach”. 45.Österreichische Linguistik Tagung, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, 6-8 December 2019