Christoph Bode (born May 13, 1952, in

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

) is a literary scholar. His fields are

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, m ...

poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...

, and

travel writing The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a ...

, but he is mainly known as a romanticist and a narratologist. He was

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

and chair of Modern English Literature in the Department of English and American Studies at

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

until his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in March 2018.

Early life and education

Bode is the second child of the headmaster of a private language school and university lecturer (''Anglistik und Amerikanistik'') Dr. Adolf Bode and his wife Ute Bode (born Kuß). Bode was educated in his home town of Siegen (1959–1971), before reading English and American literature,

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, and University College Cardiff (1971–1976). After his graduation from Marburg in 1976 ( state examination), Bode received his Ph.D. from the same university in 1978 (English and American literature, with philosophy/pedagogy as minor subject). This was followed by Bode's alternative service as conscientious objector (1978–1980).

Career in academia

From 1977 to 1986, Bode was

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

and, from 1986 to 1992,

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

at Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany. In 1989/90 he temporarily filled the position of a professor of English and American literature at Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany. In 1992 he was made professor of English and American literature at Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, and in 1997 he was

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. In 2001, Bode accepted the offer of a chair of English literature from

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, after rejecting a parallel offer from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Since then, Bode was

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(2012), at Tsinghua University, Beijing and at the University of Sichuan, Chengdu (both in 2015). In 2016 he was Mercator Fellow at

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is c ...

, and after his retirement in 2018 Erasmus Scholar at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow and distinguished guest at the Chinese University, Hong Kong in 2019.

Focus in research and teaching

Bode is a specialist in British, European, and American Romanticism and

Modernist literature Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...

. With a background in

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

(''Ästhetik der Ambiguität'', 1988), he is also a narratologist (''The Novel'', 2011; European Research Council project "Narrating Futures") and an expert in

. Other facets of his research include literary theory and travel writing. Bode was President of the ''Gesellschaft für Englische Romantik'' (''Society for English Romanticism'') 2001 through 2013, since then he has served as Vice-President for International Relations.

Memberships

Bode is a member of about a dozen learned societies and associations, among them * Deutscher Anglistikverband (advisory board 1998-2002) * North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) * British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) *

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

Prizes, awards, fellowships

* 2007 Christensen Fellowship,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(Visiting Fellow of St Catherine's College) * 2007 Corresponding Fellow, English Association, UK * 2007/08 Sabbatical year funded by the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bu ...

(DFG) (German Research Foundation) for research on the discursive construction of identity in British Romanticism * 2008/09 Sabbatical year funded by the Exzellenzinitiative des Bundes for research on the History and Theory of British Travel Writing * 2009-12 Advanced Investigator Grant of the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

(ERC): "Narrating Futures" project''Narrating Futures'' Project, LMU Munich
/ref> (900.000 €). Bode was the first English Literature scholar in Europe to receive such a grant and the first Humanities scholar in Germany * 2010 Fellow of the Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) at LMU Munich * 2011 Fellow of the

* 2013

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(Merit Cross on Ribbon) * 2015 Walker Ames Lecture Award of the

University of Washington, Seattle The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Unite ...

* 2015 High-End Foreign Experts Program of the People's Republic of China * 2015 Research Fellowship of St Catherine's College,

Referee and advisory boards

Bode serves on ca. 15 advisory boards, among them those of the

, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Volkswagenstiftung, Max Weber Stiftung, Fritz Thyssen Stiftung,

Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

, Schweizer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung,

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

Fulbright Commission The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

, Cusanus-Werk and European Romantic Review. He also reviews for Studies in Romanticism, Literature Compass, publishers

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

and

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

as well as the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

. He also worked as a reviewer for the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies.

Publications

Monographs

Bode has published 17 monographs, among them * ''Aldous Huxley, „Brave New World“'', Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München 1985. (''Text und Geschichte: Modellanalysen zur englischen und amerikanischen Literatur'', vol. 13; utb 1312); 2nd improved edition 1993. * ''Ästhetik der Ambiguität: Zu Funktion und Bedeutung von Mehrdeutigkeit in der Literatur der Moderne'', Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1988. (''Konzepte der Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft'', vol. 4). * ''Der Roman: Eine Einführung'', Francke, Tübingen 2005; 2nd extended edition 2011; engl. edition " The Novel: An Introduction", Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford/Malden, MA, 2011. * ''Selbst-Begründungen: Diskursive Konstruktion von Identität in der britischen Romantik 1: Subjektive Identität'', Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, Trier 2008. * ''Fremd-Erfahrungen: Diskursive Konstruktion von Identität in der britischen Romantik 2: Identität auf Reisen'', Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, Trier, 2009. * ''Future Narratives: Theory, Poetics, and Media-Historical Moment'' (together with Rainer Dietrich), Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2013. * ''Vom Innehalten: Anhand einiger Gedichte der englischen Romantik'', Format, Gera/Jena, 2017.

Editor and Co-Editor

Bode has co-edited 13 collections, among them * Hugo Keiper and Richard J. Utz, ''Nominalism and Literary Discourse: New Perspectives'', Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi, 1997. (Critical Studies, Vol. 10). * Ulrich Broich, ''Die Zwanziger Jahre in Großbritannien: Literatur und Gesellschaft einer spannungsreichen Dekade'', Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1998. * Sebastian Domsch, ''British and European Romanticisms: Selected Papers from the Munich Conference of the German Society for English Romanticism'', Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2007. * (sole editor) ''Romanticism and the Forms of Discontent'', Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, Trier, 2017. * With Michael O’Sullivan, Eli Park Sorensen and Lukas Schepp, ''East-West Dialogues: The Transferability of Concepts in the Humanities'', Peter Lang, Berlin/Bern/Bruxelles etc., 2020.

Series Editor

* As president of the Gesellschaft für englische Romantik, Bode has been co-editor of the series "Studien zur englischen Romantik" with Die Blaue Eule publishers, as of 2005 with WVT Trier. * Co-editor since 2007, ''Münchener Universitätsschriften: Texte und Untersuchungen zur Englischen Philologie'', Frankfurt/Main, Peter Lang Verlag (since 2016 ''Munich Studies in English'' = MUSE). * Co-editor, ''Literatur - Kultur - Theorie'', Würzburg, Ergon Verlag (since 2007). * ''Narrating Futures'', a five-volume book series, de Gruyter, Berlin/New York, 2013. (Vol. 1: Christoph Bode, Rainer Dietrich: ''Future Narratives: Theory, Poetics, and Media-Historical Moment''; vol. 2: Felicitas Meifert: ''Playing the Text, Performing the Future: Future Narratives in Print and Digiture''; vol. 3: Sabine Schenk: ''Running and Clicking: Future Narratives in Film''; vol. 4: Sebastian Domsch: ''Storyplaying: Agency and Narrative in Video Games''; vol. 5: Kathleen Singles: ''Alternate History: Playing with Contingency and Necessity'').

Publications

Bode has published well over 70 articles, among them * ''Beyond/Around/Into One's Own: Reiseliteratur als Paradigma von Welt-Erfahrung'', Poetica 26: 1–2 (1994), 70–87. * ''Azores High, Iceland Low: The Location and Dynamics of Shakespeare's Meaning and Value'', Historicizing/Contemporizing Shakespeare: Essays in Honour of Rudolf Böhm, eds. Christoph Bode, Wolfgang Klooß, Trier: WVT, 2000, 25–51. * ''The Subject of Beachy Head'', Charlotte Smith, British Romanticism, ed. Jacqueline Labbe, Pickering & Chatto, London, 2008, 57–69. * ''Coleridge and Philosophy'', The Oxford Handbook of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ed. Frederick Burwick, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, 588–619. * ''Absolut Jena''. Romanticism and Philosophy: Thinking with Literature, eds. Sophie Laniel-Musitelli, Thomas Constantinesco, Routledge, London/New York, 2015, 19–39. * ''A Model of Models? Reconceptualizing European Romanticisms and the Form(s) of Historicity'', Romantik erkennen – Modelle finden, eds. Sandra Kerschbaumer, Stefan Matuschek, Schöningh, Paderborn, 2019, 131–143. * ''German Romanticism and the Sublime'', The Cambridge Companion to the Romantic Sublime, ed. Cian Duffy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2023, 69–80.

Reviews

Bode has written over 50 reviews, encyclopedia articles and handbook entries, mainly on romanticism and literary theory.

References

* "Bode, Christoph," in ''

Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender ''Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender'' (English: "Kürschner's Encyclopedia of German Scholars"), formerly subtitled ''Lexikon der lebenden deutschsprachigen Wissenschaftler'' ("Encyclopedia of Living German-Speaking Scholars"), is a German ...

'', De Gruyter: Berlin (23rd ed.) 2011. * Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, ''Bode, Christoph'' in ''Annual Report on English and American Studies'' (AREAS), eds. Anja Holderbaum, Anne Kimmes, Joachim Kornelius, Trier: WVT, 1 ff. (1991 ff.) (biannual)

External links

Website of Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode (in German)
*
Gesellschaft für englische Romantik (in English)

''Changing Times: Critical Issues of the Day – A Conversation with Professor Christoph Bode''
hosted by Eli Park Sorensen and Michael O'Sullivan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, recorded June 1, 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bode, Christoph 1952 births Living people Linguists from Germany Academic staff of the University of Bamberg Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany