PhD Fellowship as part of the research project ‘Danish-German Cultures (1773-1864): Conflict and Cohesion’, funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark.
The Department of English, Germanic, and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen is offering a fully funded 3-year PhD scholarship commencing 1 February 2024.
We are looking for a candidate who is highly motivated to undertake doctoral research as part of a three-year collaborative project funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark and headed by Associate Professor Anna Sandberg.
Presentation of the host project
“Danish-German Cultures (1773-1864). Conflict and Cohesion” is a cultural history project which investigates the hybrid culture of Danish-German coexistence in the Danish composite state from 1773-1864. The aim of the project is to write a new transcultural history of art, literature, language and human practices. We will explore how authors, artists, intellectuals and academics, as well as civil servants and politicians, lived and worked in a zone with two nationalities and the two languages Danish and German in the cosmopolitan state. This will challenge the dominant narrative of ideological battles, mutual exclusions and war, and instead examine the dual conditions of conflict and cohesion before the formation of the Danish nation state in 1864.
This period of pluralistic and bilingual identity formation will be examined in case studies from four disciplines of the humanities: comparative literature, art history, history and linguistics by, a) analyzing the interplay between the micro level of individual practices and the macro level of state, politics, and institutions respectively and b) offering a longitudinal perspective of the period divided into two phases from 1773-1814 and 1814-1864 and c) taking into consideration the spatial relations between Copenhagen-Kiel, the Danish Kingdom-the German Duchies, and the Conglomerate State-Europe.
Theoretically we propose an approach of entangled history to study the interdepencies between Danish and German, drawing furthermore on concepts like “contact zone”, “semiosphere”, and cultural border crossers (“Grenzgänger”).
Our investigation aims at 1) exploring the hybrid cultural identification and identity models of the period (as alternatives to state citizen identity and mono-national identities) 2) analyzing the narratives and imaginaries employed in literature, art, language, and life-writing, and 3) comparing the Danish-German state with pluralistic identity formations in other European border regions and states in order to test its potentials in today´s nationalized and globalized world.
Job description
The work to be undertaken by the successful PhD candidate is an independent PhD research project designed to fit the overall research agenda of Danish-German Cultures (1773-1864): Conflict and Cohesion with an emphasis on the transformation from a multilingual to a monolingual society, and the interplay between German and Danish language before and during the ideologization of the national languages. More specifically, the PhD candidate will be expected to design and conduct a historical and linguistic case study focusing on the change of language-society relations between 1773-1864. The PhD project can investigate language practice (the functions of German and Danish in different social milieus and official domains) and/or language attitudes in the period; include a mapping of the linguistic contact zones in society; or perform a contrastive analysis of language ideologies in German and Danish language histories (e.g. Jakob Grimm (1848), C.F. Allen (1857-58), N.M. Petersen (1829-30) as well as the letters between Grimm and Rasmus Rask), which goes beyond the perspective of the triumphant monolingualism (as depicted in the national language histories of Skautrup 1944-1968; Diderichsen, 1968).The project can also integrate literary language, translational history and genres such as school books or language instruction books. The relation of language and identities (identity constructions, imagined communities, perceptions) should play a central role.
The case study will be chosen in collaboration with the PhD supervisor, based on the specific case(s) proposed in the successful candidate’s PhD project description. PhD candidates are expected to outline a research design for the case study as part of their application. The project can be situated within the field of linguistics, literature, or history but has to analyse linguistic material and sources. We welcome projects which contribute with new material and archival sources. Theoretically, the PhD project should contribute to the host project’s overall framework and research interests and the interdisciplinary dialogue.
The PhD student will be supervised by Associate Professor Anna Sandberg (a co-supervisor might be appointed depending on the project). The thesis can take the form of a monograph, or it can be article based, depending on the nature of the proposed project and the successful candidate’s preferences.
Key criteria for the assessment of applicants:
Applicants must have a relevant master’s degree (120 ECTS), possibly with a specialization (speciale) within the areas of linguistics (historical sociolinguistics), German or Danish Studies, or History. Applicants with a non-Danish Master’s degree will have their degree assessed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science in order to establish that their Master’s degree is equivalent to a Danish Master’s degree. Please read more at the Ministry of Higher Education and Sciences website: https://ufm.dk/en
The successful applicant will have advanced analytical skills and be a strong communicator in Danish and German as well as English. We expect the PhD thesis to be written in Danish or German, alternatively in English.
Since the case study will involve data and material in Danish as well as German, applicants must document advanced knowledge of Danish and German
Due to the collaborative nature of the host project, it is essential that the candidate has excellent collaborative skills and a strong interest in being part of a close-knit research team.
Additional critera for the assement of applicants:
Exam results
The time taken to complete previous degrees (taking any periods of leave into account)
Previous publications
Relevant work experience
Key criteria for the assessment of the PhD project description:
Relevance of the proposed PhD project for the host project
Intellectual originality
Theoretical contribution
Research design
Feasibility of the proposed project
Place of employment
The place of employment is The Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies (Engerom), Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, and the successful candidate will be part of the PhD programme at the Faculty of Humanities, attached to the PhD coordinator and group of PhD students at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment. Se full text: https://employment.ku.dk/phd/?show=159973