Eva von Contzen

Prof. Dr. Eva von Contzen

Professor she/her
Chair of English Literature | Fludernik

Managing Director of the Mittelalterzentruum (MAZ)

This semester, the MAZ runs a lecture series on “Critical Medievalism” – see the programme here.

Deputy Equal Opportunity Officer, Fakultät für Philologie

eva.voncontzen@anglistik.uni-freiburg.de
☎ +49 761 203-3317 // 203-97336

R 4206 | KG IV

PROJECTS | PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

2017 – 2022
Lists in Literature and Culture: Towards a Listology (LISTLIT)

ERC Starting Grant
www.listlit.uni-freiburg.de

2017–2021
Antragstellerin Graduate Research School (GRK) 1767 “Factual and Fictional Narration”,
University of Freiburg https://www.grk-erzaehlen.uni-freiburg.de

2014 – 2017
Medieval Narratology
Scientific network, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG-Netzwerk)

I am co-editor of the journal New Chaucer Studies: Pedagogy and Profession, an open-access and peer-reviewed journal devoted to our work inside both the classroom and the institution, as well as to our outward-facing work contributing to the public discourse. In these ways, the journal seeks to advance a broad and embracing conception of medieval literary studies.

Also, I am a member of the following advisory boards:

Journal Beiträge für mediävistische Erzählforschung (BmE)
      https://ojs.uni-oldenburg.de/ojs/index.php/bme

Project Retracing Connections: Byzantine Storyworlds
      https://retracingconnections.org

Blog Diegesis in Mind
      https://diegesis-in-mind.com

I am currently member of two scientific networks (funded by the German Research Foundation):
Diachronic Metalepsis
New Economic Criticism

Together with Amanda Gerber and Martha Rust, I run a blog devoted to lists:
https://listology.blog

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT

EDUCATION

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND MEMBERSHIPS

PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

1. Literary Listory: A Short Literary History of the List and its Functions. London: Palgrave. Forthcoming. (with Roman A. Barton and Anne Rüggemeier)
2. The Scottish Legendary. Towards a Poetics of Hagiographic Narration. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016.

Editions

3. Marco Girolamo Vida, Christias. Bd. 1: Einleitung, Edition und Übersetzung, Bd. 2: Kommentar. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag: Trier, 2013. (co-edited with Reinhold F. Glei, Wolfgang Polleichtner, and Michael Schulze Roberg)

Edited Volumes and Handbooks

4. Enlistment. Lists in Medieval and Early Modern Literature. Ohio: The Ohio State University Press, 2022. (co-edited with James Simpson).
5. Enacting the Bible in Late Medieval and Early Modern Drama. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020. (co-edited with Chanita Goodblatt)
6. Handbuch Historische Narratologie. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2019. (co-edited with Stefan Tilg)
7. Narratologie und mittelalterliches Erzählen. Autor, Erzähler, Perspektive, Zeit und Raum. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2018. (co-edited with Florian Kragl)
8. Risikogesellschaften. Literatur- und geschichtswissenschaftliche Perspektiven. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2018. (co-edited with Tobias Huff and Peter Itzen)
9. Sanctity as Literature in Medieval Britain. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015. (co-edited with Anke Bernau)

Edited Issues of Journals

10. Special issue in Beiträge zur mediävistischen Erzählforschung (2019) on “Historische Narratologie: Werkstattberichte” (guest editor).
11. Special issue in Style 50.3 (2016) on “Lists in Literature from the Middle Ages to Postmodernism.” (guest editor)
12. Special issue in Narrative 23.2 (2015) on “Social Minds in Factual and Fictional Narration.” (co-edited with Max Alders)
13. Special issue in Medievalia et Humanistica 41 (2015) on “Scottish Identity.” (co-edited with Luuk Houwen)

Articles

14. “Who Has Intention? Chaucer Studies and the Search for Meaning.” Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 53.3 (2023). Forthcoming.
15. “Auf den Schultern von Riesen: Kanon, Katalog und literarische Form.“ Euphorion 116 (2022): 1-13.
16. “Chrononarratology: Modelling Historical Change for Narrative Theory.” Narrative 30.1 (2022): 26-46. (co-authored with Dorothee Birke and Karin Kukkonen)
17. “Editor’s Introduction: Pandemic Experiences and Making the Medieval Relevant.” New Chaucer Studies: Pedagogy and Profession 2.2 (2021): 1-9. (with Lisa Lampert-Weissig, Candace Barrington, and Katherine Little)
18. “Don’t Trust the List: The Politics of Enumeration and Capitalist Discourse in the Novel.” Forms of List-Making: Epistemic, Literary, and Visual Enumeration. Eds. Roman Barton et al. London: Palgrave, 2022. 129-50.
19. “Editors’ Introduction: #MeToo, Medieval Literature, and Trauma-Informed Pedagogy.” New Chaucer Studies: Pedagogy and Profession 2.1 (2021): 1-9. (with Lisa Lampert-Weissig, Candace Barrington, and Katherine Little)
20. “Anglistische Mediävistik.” Das Mittelalter 26 (2021, Special Issue Mediävistik 2021: Positionen, Strategien, Visionen): 137-40.
21. “Mediävist*innen von morgen fördern. Herausforderungen und Chancen.” Das Mittelalter 26 (2021, Special Issue Mediävistik 2021: Positionen, Strategien, Visionen): 87-101. (with Albrecht Fuess and Jonathan Reinert)
22. “Namen auf einer Liste: Aufzählen und Erinnern in der Troja-Tradition.” Poetica 54 (2020): 312-32.
23. “Editors’ Introduction.” New Chaucer Studies: Pedagogy and Profession 1 (2020): 1-5. (with Lisa Lampert-Weissig, Candace Barrington, and Katherine Little)
24. “Theorising Lists in Literature: Towards a Listology.” Lists and Catalogues in Ancient Literature and Beyond. Towards a Poetics of Enumeration. Eds. Rebecca Lämmle, Cédric Scheidegger Lämmle, and Katharina Wesselmann. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2020. 35-45.
25. “Cum tacet, clamat? Silence und der Diskurs des Heiligen. ” Heldris de Cornouailles: Roman de Silence. Eds. Inci Bozkaya et al. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020. 139-52.
26. “Fictionality before Fictionality? Historicizing a Modern Concept.” Traveling Concepts: New Fictionality Studies. Eds. Monika Fludernik and Henrik Skov Nielsen. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2020. 91-114. (with Stefan Tilg)
27. “Response Essay: A List Is A List Is A List – Between the Cognitive and the Ethical in Researching Lists in Literature.” Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 1/2 (2020 for 2018): 155-64.
28.  “Embodiment and Joint Attention: An Enactive Reading of Middle English Cycle Plays.” The Bible in Late Medieval and Early Modern Drama. Eds. Eva von Contzen and Chanita Goodblatt. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020. 43-62.
29. “A List Is A List Is A List – Between the Cognitive and the Ethical in Researching Lists in Literature.” Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 1/2 (2018, for 2020): 155-64.
30. “On the (Epic) List: Catalogues of Heroes and Literary Form from Homer to Omeros.” Pontes IX: Antikes Heldentum in der Moderne. Ed. Stefan Tilg. Freiburg: Rombach, 2019. 231-55.
31. “The Factual in the Middle Ages.” Narrative Factuality. A Handbook. Eds. Monika Fludernik and Marie-Laure Ryan. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019. 625-34.
32. “Theorien und Praktiken: Mittelalter.” // “Forschungsbericht Anglistik / Medieval English Studies.“ Handbuch Historische Narratologie. Eds. Eva von Contzen and Stefan Tilg. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2019. 11-19; 285-88.
33. “Experience, Affect, and Literary Lists.” Partial Answers 16.2 (2018): 315-27.
34. “Wer bin ‘Ich’ und wenn ja, wie viele? Narrative Inszenierungen des Ichs in England und Schottland.” Von sich selbst erzählen: Historische Dimensionen des Ich-Erzählens. Eds. Sonja Glauch and Katharina Philipowski. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2018. 63-97.
35. “Narrative and Experience in Medieval Literature: Author, Narrator, and Character Revisited.” Narratologie und mittelalterliches Erzählen. Autor, Erzähler, Perspektive, Zeit und Raum. Eds. Eva von Contzen and Florian Kragl. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2018. 61-80.
36. “Diachrone Narratologie und historische Erzählforschung. Eine Bestandsaufnahme und ein Plädoyer.” [‘Diachronic Narratologe and Historical Narrative Theory. Status quo and a Plea’] Beiträge zur mediävistischen Erzählforschung 1 (2018): 18-38.
37. “‘Both Close and Distant’: Experiments of Form and the Medieval in Contemporary Literature.” Frontiers of Narrative 3.2 (2017): 289-303.
38. “Dido’s Words. Representing Speech and Consciousness in Ancient and Medieval Narrative.” How to Do Things with Narrative: Cognitive and Diachronic Perspectives. Eds. Jan Alber and Greta Olson. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2017. 79-92.
39. “Die Affordanzen der Liste.” [‘The Affordances of the List’] Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik 3 (2017): 317-26.
40. “Listen im Transferprozess: Zur englischen und deutschen Rabelais-Übersetzung.” [‘Lists in Transition: On the English and German Translation of Rabelais’] Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 58 (2017): 193-220.
41. “Emotion und Handlungsmotivation in Sir Tristrem.” [‘Emotion and Plot Motivation in Sir Tristrem’] Emotion und Handlung im Artusroman. Eds. Cora Dietl, Christoph Schanze, Friedrich Wolfzetter, Lena Zudrell. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2017. 229-42.
42. “Grenzfälle des Erzählens: Die Liste als einfache Form.” [‘On the Margins of Narrative: The List as Simple Form’] Komplexität und Einfachheit. Villa Vigoni-Symposion 2015. Ed. Albrecht Koschorke. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2017. 221-39.
43. “Unnatural Narratology and Premodern Narratives: Historicizing a Form.” Journal of Literary Semantics 146 (2017): 1-23.
44. “Die Lust am Lesen. Parodie in den Vorreden englischer Übersetzungen antiker Romane.” [‘The Pleasure of Reading. Parody in the Prefaces to English Translations of Ancient Novels’] Parodie und Verkehrung. Formen und Funktionen spielerischer Verfremdung und spöttischer Verzerrung in Texten des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit. Eds. Seraina Plotke and Stefan Seeber. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016. 111-31.
45. “The Limits of Narration: Lists and Literary History.” Style 50.3 (2016): 241-60.
46. “Why Medieval Literature Does Not Need the Concept of Social Minds: Exemplarity and Collective Experience.” Narrative 23.2 (2015, Special Issue “Social Minds in Factual and Fictional Narration”): 140-53.
47. “Narrating Vernacular Sanctity: The Scottish Legendary as a Challenge to the ‘Literary Turn’ in Fifteenth-Century Hagiography.” Sanctity as Literature in Medieval Britain. Eds. Eva von Contzen und Anke Bernau. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015. 172-90.
48. “Introduction: Sanctity as Literature.” Sanctity as Literature in Medieval Britain. Eds. Eva von Contzen und Anke Bernau. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015. 1-17.
49.  “Writing Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland.” Medievalia et Humanistica 41 (2015): 1-6. (with Luuk Houwen)
50. “Collective Experience in Narrative: Conclusion and Proposals.” in Narrative 23.2 (2015, Special Issue “Social Minds in Factual and Fictional Narration”): 226-29. (with Max Alders)
51. “Why We Need a Medieval Narratology: A Manifesto.” Diegesis: Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research 3.2 (2014): 1-21.
52. “Saints’ Lives as Narrative Art? Towards a Pragma-Narratological Approach to the Scottish Legendary.” Linguistics and Literary Studies: Interfaces, Encounters, Transfers. Eds. Monika Fludernik and Daniel Jacob. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014. 171-97.
53. “’I still retain the Empire of my Minde’: Thomas Ross’s Continuation of Silius Italicus (1661; 1672).” Medievalia et Humanistica 39 (2014): 25-46.
54. “Heiligkeit als narratives Konstrukt: Die kommunikative Situation in ausgewählten Heiligenviten des englischen Mittelalters.” [‘Sanctity as a Narrative Construct: The Communicative Situation in Selected English Saints’ Legends’] Gottes Werk und Adams Beitrag. Eds. Thomas Honegger, Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich, and Volker Leppin. Das Mittelalter. Beihefte. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014. 113-27.
55. “Marco Polo in the Scottish Legendary (XXXVI, ll. 755-810).” Notes & Queries 60.2 (2013): 196-99.
56. “Die Verortung eines Nicht-Ortes. Der fiktionale Raum in Thomas Morus’ Utopia.” [‘Locating a No-Place. Fictional Space in Thomas More’s Utopia.’] Neulateinisches Jahrbuch 13 (2011): 33-56.

Further Publications

57. “Chaucers kulinarische Pilgerreise. Essen und Erzählen im englischen Mittelalter.“ Gegessen? Essen und Gedächtnis in den Literaturen der Welt. Eds. Caspar Battegay, Lena Henningsen, and Kai Wiegandt. Neofelis: Berlin, 2019. 91-104.
58. Entries “Saint Christopher”, “Saint Cuthbert”, “Saint Helena”, and “Saint Denis”. The Chaucer Encyclopedia. Ed. Richard Newhauser. Oxford: Blackwell. Forthcoming.
59. Entry “The Scottish Legendary.” Encyclopedia of British Medieval Literature. Eds. Sian Echard and Robert Rouse. Malden: Blackwell, 2017. 1680-81.
60. Entry “Scottish Legendary”, The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 November 2016.
61. “Homo narrans.” The Future We Want/Burn After Reading. Eds. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Eileen A. Joy, and Myra Seaman. Oliphaunt Books and punctum books, 2014. 109-11.

UPCOMING AND RECENT CONFERENCES

TEACHING

I have taught a variety of courses on various aspects and genres of English literature, narrative theory / narratology, literary history, and medieval literature, and regularly supervise B.A., M.A., and M.Ed. theses on these topics.