Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 

Department of English, American and Celtic Studies 

Regina-Pacis-Weg 5 

53113 Bonn

Phone: +49 228 73- 7624

E-Mail: mgymnich[at]uni-bonn.de

 Current Position: 

Professor of English Literature and Culture

Education

Academic Positions

Awards: 

2011 and 2013 Teaching Award, University of Bonn

Participation in Centers and Collaborative Projects: 

Coordinator of the International and Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Giessen, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (2002-2006); member of the Giessen Graduate Centre (2002-2007); member of the interdisciplinary research project “Phraseorom – Phraseology of the novel”, funded by the German Research Foundation and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (since 2016)

Additional academic activities: 

Co-editor of the series "Representations & Reflections: Studies in Anglophone Literatures and Cultures"

Research: 

In her research project on representations of domestic service, MG explores changes and continuities in a wide range of literary and non-fictional depictions and negotiations of asymmetrical dependencies that shaped the lives of domestic servants in Britain from the Restoration period to the end of the nineteenth century. The juxtaposition of fictional representations of domestic service that were targeted at a middle-class and/or upper-class readership (in plays, poems and novels), ‘lowbrow’ texts (such as street ballads) and non-fictional texts (e.g., diaries, letters, advertisements, and testimonies by employers and servants), promises to shed new light on social stereotypes and recurring narratives that informed dominant discourses on relations between employers and (domestic) servants. More often than not, the stereotypes and narratives (with their implicit assumptions about ‘normal’ life trajectories) sought to legitimize and perpetuate patterns of asymmetrical dependency, although traces of resistance and subversive (literary) performances can also be found. Gender, age, social mobility, changing notions of ‘family’, ‘home’ and human development as well as numerous literary strategies of voicing and silencing are among the key concepts drawn upon in this project.

6 books (3 of these co-authored), 14 (co-)edited volumes, 92 articles, more than 30 contributions to lexica and encyclopedias, more than 20 reviews; numerous national and international lectures and papers; 4 completed doctorates as first supervisor; 14 completed doctorates as second supervisor; 1 completed Habilitation as co-mentor (University of Heidelberg)

Third-Party Funding: 

German Research Foundation/Agence Nationale de la Recherche: collaborative interdisciplinary research project “Phraseorom”

Selected Publications:

1. Das englische Drama der Restaurationszeit aus gattungstypologischer Sicht: Erscheinungsformen und Entwicklungstendenzen [The English Drama in the Restoration Period from the Point of View of Genre Typology: Types and Developments], in: Ansgar Nünning (ed.), Eine andere Geschichte der englischen Literatur: Epochen, Gattungen und Teilgebiete im Überblick [A Different History of English Literature: Periods, Genres and Areas – an overview], Trier 1996, pp. 43-60.
2. 'A shock, of which I feel the reverberation to this day': Memory and Identity in Charlotte Brontë's Fictional Autobiography Jane Eyre, in: Astrid Erll/Marion Gymnich/AnsgarNünning (eds.), Literatur – Erinnerung – Identität: Theoriekonzeptionen und Fallstudien [Literature – Memory – Identity: Theoretical Concepts and Case Studies], Trier 2003, pp. 125-41 (with Andreea Lazarescu)
3. Konzepte literarischer Figuren und Figurencharakterisierung [Concepts of Literary Characters and Characterization], in: Vera Nünning/Ansgar Nünning (eds.), Erzähltextanalyse und Gender Studies [Narratological Analysis and Gender Studies], Stuttgart/Weimar 2004, pp. 122-142.
4. Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre; Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights. Stuttgart/Weimar 2007.
5. Voyages Out – Voyages In: Travelling and Individual Development in Novels by Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers, in: Marion Gymnich/Ansgar Nünning/Vera Nünning/Elisabeth Wåghäll Nivre (eds.), Points of Arrival: Travels in Time, Space and the Self, Tübingen 2008, pp. 221-237.
6. The Gender(ing) of Fictional Characters, in: Jens Eder/Fotis Jannidis/Ralf Schneider (eds.), Characters in Fictional Worlds: Understanding Imaginary Beings in Literature, Film, and Other Media, Berlin/New York 2010, pp. 506-524.
7. Restoration Comedies: William Wycherley's The Country Wife, Aphra Behn's The Rover, and William Congreve's The Way of the World, in: Sibylle Baumbach/Birgit Neumann/Ansgar Nünning (eds.), A History of British Drama: Genres – Developments – Model Interpretations, Trier 2011, pp. 113-127.
8. Gender and Narratology, Literature Compass 10.9 (2013), pp. 705-715.
9. Erzählen und Gender [Narration and Gender], in: Matías Martínez (ed.), Erzählen: Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch [Narration – An Interdisciplinary Handbook], Stuttgart 2017, pp. 326-334.
10. Orphans in Fiction and Comics since the 19^th Century (co-authored book, with Barbara Puschmann-Nalenz, Gerold Sedlmayr and Dirk Vanderbeke), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, forthcoming (2018).