Research

Jeanne Cortiel’s research and teaching focuses on discontinuities and processes of transformation within American culture, originating, for example, in cultural contact zones. A particular interest here lies in the interactions between literature and popular culture. Three research projects are currently in progress:

(1)
An interdisciplinary project with a focus on new technologies (i.e. nano- and biotechnology) including the theoretical debate around the question of interdisciplinarity.

(2)
A project on African-American travel writing and abolitionism focusing on the significance of Africa in European-American cultural contact zones.

(3)
The third project connects American cultural studies with classical questions of literary criticism, examining the interaction between poetry and visual culture since the nineteenth century.

Research Partners

We closely work together with other disciplines of various faculties in the context of the Bayreuth Institute for America Studies (BIFAS).