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Dr. Deborah de Muijnck

Debora de Muijnck.jpg
Debora de Muijnck.jpg
About me

Dr. Deborah de Muijnck is a scholar of Anglophone Literature and Narratology, and the academic coordinator of internationalisation at the GCSC.

Background: From 2019 - 2023 she was a (post-)doctoral research assistant at the Institute of English Literature at RWTH Aachen University, where she completed her dissertation in 2022. In 2023, she was an affiliate at the Institute for World Literature, Harvard University and a visiting Research Fellow at Karl-Franzens' University's Centre for Cultural Studies in 2024. Dr. de Muijnck worked as an online editor in Cologne, Berlin, Dortmund, Munich, and Aachen, and traveled around the globe as an analog photography artist from 2016 until she settled in academia in 2019.

Teaching: Since spring 2019, she has taught seminars, workshops, masterclasses and lectures at several institutions in Europe, including RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Karl-Franzens University Graz (Austria), Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany), University of Bergamo (Italy), University of Witten/Herdecke (Germany), Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany), University of Groningen (Netherlands) and at Cátolica University Lisbon (Portugal).

Research
Her research interests are rooted in literary scandals from the eighteenth century onward, in narratology, and in empirical ecocriticism.

  • Literary Scandals
    Her second monograph (habilitation) explores literary scandal as a form of cultural transgression in Britain from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. Within this framework, she investigates how aesthetic forms provoke offense, trigger public debate, and challenge social norms. Forthcoming articles on this research will appear in leading international journals such as Style, Storyworlds, and Frontiers of Narrative Studies. In addition, together with Tero Vanhanen (University of Helsinki), she is co-editing the special issue Narratives of Scandal and Shock for the international peer-reviewed journal Frontiers of Narrative Studies (De Gruyter).
  • Narrative, Culture, and Identity
    In her dissertation Cultural Models of Narrative Identity: The Case of Military Autobiographical Writing, she examines how British soldiers and veterans reconstruct their identities after experiences of war through autobiographical narration. Further publications, such as Pandemic Storytelling (Brill, 2025) and Poetics of Disturbances (Brill, 2024), address the interplay between pandemics and narrativity, the impact of non-normative life experiences on storytelling, and the reciprocal relationship between narrative, culture, and identity (Routledge Companion, 2025).
  • Empirical Ecocriticism
    Dr. de Muijnck served as investigator of the project Narratives for Ecological and Sustainable Transition (NEST), funded by NextGenerationEU (2024–2025). NEST brings together postdoctoral researchers from several European universities to address the global challenges of climate change by examining narratives that raise awareness, engage with ethical concerns, and offer alternative solutions.

Academic Coordination
In her role as academic coordinator, she develops, organizes, and leads (inter)national research events such as conferences, summer schools, and symposia, and coordinates the binational doctoral procedures at the Centre. She works particularly closely with partner universities in Stockholm, Helsinki, Warwick, Graz, Bergamo, and Católica in Lisbon, as well as with the participating universities of the ESSCS. She supervises the publication of network-related research outcomes, strategically supports internationalization management, and teaches seminars on research and self-management, academic writing, and mental health in high-stress situations.

Grants, Nominations, and Awards
European Union/NextGenerationEU, Italian Ministry for University and Research (MUR) – Fondo Promozione e Sviluppo through DM 737/2021*, Martin Buber Society of Fellows, German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7863-2011

Publications

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 War: Cultural Models, Coherence, and the Autobiographical Mind. 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, and Tero Vanhanen, editors. Special issue Narratives of Scandal and Shock: Transgression, Media, and Cultural Response. Frontiers of Narrative Studies, vol. 12, forthcoming.
  • 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 Wredhed, editors. A Reading Crisis? The Challenges of Reading Generally and Reading Fiction Specifically. In progress.

  • 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, forthcoming.

  • 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, forthcoming.

  • 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

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “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, in press.

  • —. “Salutogenesis and the Trope of the Dying Girl: Cognitive and Affective Strategies in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction.” New Conjunctures and Directions in Literary and Cultural Studies, edited by Ansgar Nünning, Magdalena Pfalzgraf, and Anna Tabouratzidis, Narr, 2024, in press.

  • 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.

  • de Muijnck, Deborah. “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.

Memberships

International Society for the Study of Narrative

IGEL - International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature

Deutscher Anglistenverband

Research Interests

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

Conference Presentations and Lectures as invited Guest Speaker (selected)

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.

Organized Conferences, Lecture Series, Summer Schools, and Symposia (selected)

  • 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.