PhD Project
“Beyond Alterity: The Fantastic Dawn of Affinities in Contemporary Speculative Fiction.”
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Heinze, TU Braunschweig, Germany; JProf.’ Dr.’ Judith Rauscher, University of Cologne, Germany.
In exploring the negotiation of alterity and identity within speculative fiction, I do not only argue for affinity as a concept of identity and aesthetics in contemporary speculative fiction, but also for an affinitive turn within the Humanities. Considering speculative fiction as an affective archive, I propose that studying affinity in speculative fiction provides valuable insights for developing new modes of living that prioritize solidarity over division as affinity becomes an ethics of being-with.
Project Speculative Ontologies
The project on Speculative Ontologies explores how 21st-century speculative fiction engages with the complex realities of the contemporary, shaped by climate catastrophes, sociopolitical instability, technological developments, and mounting global inequalities. The project positions speculative fiction as a vital space for reimagining what it means to be human amid overlapping crises, as well as for envisioning alternative futures grounded in resilience, hope, and critical reflection.
- funding from Innovationsfonds, TU Braunschweig
- Co-organization of the workshop “Speculative Cultures” with Lisa Cristea (TU Braunschweig)
- Co-editorial of a special issue “Speculative Cultures and the Metamodern Turn” with Vasileios Delioglanis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
- Co-organization of the workshop “Speculative Cityscapes” with Jacqueline Barner-Bauer and Raphaela Nickel (TU Braunschweig)
- Co-organization of the workshop “Speculative Climates” with Gianluca Calio (Goethe Universität Frankfurt)
