Anna Auguscik
Anna Auguscik
Institute for English and American Studies
Literary and Cultural Studies
British & Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies
- The novel in the literary marketplace
- The culture of literary prizes
- Literature and science, and the two cultures debate
- Expedition narratives
Student Advisor for BA, MA, M.Ed. as well as MAed students ('double Masters')
Working and Studying Abroad, Bafög
Curriculum vitae
2018-2022 | Associate Junior Fellow, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) |
2018-2021 | Post-Doc Research Fellow for the interdisciplinary research and writers’ fellowship program Fiction Meets Science II funded by Volkswagen Foundation, Oldenburg and Bremen |
2014-2017 | Post-Doc Research Fellow for the interdisciplinary research and writers’ fellowship program Fiction Meets Science funded by Volkswagen Foundation, Oldenburg and Bremen |
2014 | PhD in English Literature, University of Oldenburg: “Prizing Debate in Literary Interaction: The Fourth Decade of the Booker Prize and the Contemporary Novel in the UK” |
since 2006 | Lecturer and Researcher in British & Anglophone Literature and Culture, Institute for English and American Studies, CvO University of Oldenburg |
2006 | MA in English, Polish and Comparative Literature (Englische Literaturwissenschaft, Slavische Philologie, Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft), LMU München |
2001-2006 | Studies in English and Slavonic Languages, Comparative Literature, LMU München and Università di Padova |
Lectures
Summer term 2025
Winter term 2024 / 2025
Summer term 2024
Winter term 2023 / 2024
Summer term 2023
Winter term 2022 / 2023
Summer term 2022
Winter term 2021 / 2022
Summer term 2021
Winter term 2020 / 2021
Summer term 2020
Winter term 2019 / 2020
Summer term 2019
Winter term 2018 / 2019
Summer term 2018
Winter term 2017 / 2018
Summer term 2017
Winter term 2016 / 2017
Publications
Monograph
- Auguscik, A. Prizing Debate: The Fourth Decade of the Booker Prize and the Contemporary Novel in the UK. Bielefeld: transcript, 2017. [1]
Special Issue
- Auguscik, A., and S. Broders (panel eds.) Section: Limits of Knowledge – Knowledge of Limits: The Productiveness of Ignorance, Non-Knowledge, and Agnotology. In: Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 33.2 (2022): 77-191. [2]
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
- (forthcoming) Auguscik, A. "'Our Doing and Undoing': Expeditionary Encounters and the Complex Mutuality of Cultural and Narrative Limits in Lily King’s Euphoria." Science, Culture, and Postcolonial Narratives. Ed. Anton Kirchhofer and Karsten Levihn-Kutzler. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing
- Auguscik, A., and S. Broders. "Introduction: Limits of Knowledge – Knowledge of Limits: The Productiveness of Ignorance, Non-Knowledge, and Agnotology." Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 33.2 (2022): 77-88. [3]
- Auguscik, A., "Law on Ice: Polarizing Legal Expertise in Popular Climate Change Fiction." Symbolism: An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics (2021): 153-173. [4]
- Auguscik, A. "The Death of the Archaeologist: Imagining Science, Storytelling and Self-Understanding in Contemporary Archaeofiction." Writing Remains: New Intersections of Archaeology, Literature and Science. Eds. Josie Gill, Catriona McKenzie, Emma Lightfoot. Bloomsbury, 2021. [5]
- Auguscik, A., S. Farzin, E. Herold, and A. Kirchhofer. "Speculative Fiction and the Significance of Plausibility: Dystopian Science in the Critical Response to Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake." Under the Literary Microscope: Science and Society in the Contemporary Novel. Eds. Sina Farzin, Susan M. Gaines, and Roslynn D. Haynes. Penn State UP, 2021. [6]
- Fücker, S., A. Auguscik, A. Kirchhofer, and U. Schimank. "A Fictional Risk Narrative and its Potential for Social Resonance: The Reception of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior in Reviews and Reading Groups." Under the Literary Microscope: Science and Society in the Contemporary Novel. Eds. Sina Farzin, Susan M. Gaines, and Roslynn D. Haynes. Penn State UP, 2021. [7]
- Auguscik, A. "Kulturereignisse und Kulturpreise." Länderbericht Großbritannien. Hrsg. Roland Sturm. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, 2019. 299-306.[8]
- Auguscik, A. "Spoiler Alert: Scott, Science, and Forms of Reenactment in Contemporary Expedition Narratives." Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 30.2 (2019): 47-64. [9]
- Kirchhofer, A., and A. Auguscik. "Triangulating the Two Cultures Entanglement: The Sciences and the Humanities in the Public Sphere." Journal of Literature and Science 10. 2 (2017): 26-37. [10]
- Roxburgh, N., A. Kirchhofer, A. Auguscik. "Universal Narrativity and the Anxious Scientist of the Contemporary Neuronovel." Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 49.4 (Dec 2016): 71-87. [11]
- Auguscik, A. "The Institution of Literary Prizes." The Institution of English Literature: Formation and Mediation. Eds. Barbara Schaff, Johannes Schlegel, Carola Surkamp. Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2016. 311-320. [12]
- Roxburgh, N. and A. Auguscik. "The Eighteenth-Century and the Literary Marketplace." The Handbook of Transatlantic North American Studies. Ed. Julia Straub. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter, 2016. 40-58. [13]
- Auguscik, A. "The History of the Booker Prize as a History of Problems and Precarious Alliances." Precarious Alliances: Cultures of Participation in Print and Other Media. Eds. Martin Butler, Albrecht Hausmann, and Anton Kirchhofer. Bielefeld: Transcript. 2016. 47-62. [14]
- Auguscik, A. "Lost in Translation: Literaturpreise im nationalen Literaturbetrieb". Literaturbetrieb. Zur Poetik einer Produktionsgemeinschaft. Eds. Philipp Theisohn and Christine Weder. Paderborn: Fink, 2013. 97-112. [15]
- Auguscik, A. "Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger: Zwischen Repräsentanz und Kontroverse". Medienobservationen (July 2011): 1-20. [16]
Shorter Contributions
- "Kreativer Reiseführer durch das Dickicht der Identitätsdebatten." Rezension von Audre Lorde: "Sister Outsider." Deutschlandfunk. 27.04.2021. [15]
- "Der Roman als Resonanzraum." Rezension von Bernardine Evaristo: "Mädchen, Frau, Etc." Deutschlandfunk. 11.02.2021. [16]
- "Ohne Koryphäen? Der Booker Prize 2020." Deutschlandfunk. 20.11.2020. [17]
- "Olga Tokarczuk: Die Raumzeitreisende." Die Zeit Online. 10.10.2019. [18]
- "Literaturpreise – ein historischer Abriss." Passim: Bulletin des Schweizerischen Literaturarchivs 23 (2019): 4-5. [19]
- "Nachruf Chinua Achebe: Der Nelson Mandela der Literatur". Die Zeit Online. 22.03.2013. [20]
- "Booker Prize: Thomas Cromwell als universaler Held". Die Zeit Online. 17.10.2012. [21]
Talks
- "The Booker Book: A Discourse Analytical Approach to the Contemporary Literary Marketplace." This is the Canon: The Politics of the Reading List. University of Konstanz, 25 June 2024.
- "Varieties of the Literary Expedition Narrative". BSLS, CoSciLit and SLSAeu Conference, Birmingham, 10-13 April 2024. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Changing the Climate of Fiction? Decolonial Character-Building and Stratigraphic Storytelling in Jaspreet Singh’s Face: A Novel of the Anthropocene." Interweaving Anthropology, Science, and Narrative: Postanthropocentric Mappings in the Era of Climate Crises, International Conference. IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal, India (online). 3 November 2023. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "The Climate of Fiction: Anthropocene Perspectives on the Human and its Others in Literary Narratives." Interweaving Anthropology, Science, and Narrative: Postanthropocentric Mappings in the Era of Climate Crises, International Conference. IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal, India (online). 1 November 2023. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Work and Travel: Women in Contemporary Expedition Narratives." Re:Work – Femininities, Neoliberalism and Labour in Contemporary Fiction, FAU Universität Nürnberg-Erlangen, 26 August 2023.
- "Non-Knowledge (Il-)Literacy: Negotiating the Limits of Knowledge in the Age of Enlightenment." ISECS, Rome. 2-7 Jul 2023.
- "Explorer Myth, Expedition Narratives, and the Planetary Turn." CEP Workshop: Theorizing Artificial Intelligence: From Digital Automatism to Planetary Autonomy. IIT Kharagpur West Bengal, India; online. 19-21 Jan 2023.
- "Reconfiguring Patterns of Mobility and Knowledge: Contemporary Science Novels and the Epistemology of the Expedition Narrative." BSLS 2022, Manchester, 7-9 April. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Roundtable: Disciplinary Synergies: Science in Society and the Contemporary Science Novel." SLSA 2021, University of Michigan (online), 30 Sept - 3 Oct 2021. (with Sina Farzin, Carol Colatrella, Natalie Roxburgh, Uwe Schimank and Luz Maria Hernández Nieto, Susan M Gaines)
- "Introduction: Limits of Knowledge, Knowledge of Limits. The Productiveness of Ignorance, Non-Knowledge and Agnotology in Anglophone Studies, Literature and Culture." Anglistentag 2021, Passau (online), 19-21 September 2021. (with Simone Broders)
- "Encountering Strangers in Lily King's Euphoria." GAPS 2021, Oldenburg (online), 13-15 May 2021.
- "Fiction meets Physics: Ein Experiment." Ringvorlesung: Zusammenspiel. CvO University of Oldenburg. 15 April 2021.
- "Relations of Observation and the Formation of the Anthropological Subject in Lily King’s Euphoria." BSLS 2021, online, 8-10 April 2021.
- "Scientific Expedition Narratives in Contemporary Fiction." Fellow Lecture: HWK Associate Junior Fellow, Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg, 9 September 2020.
- "Die Raumzeitreisende Olga Tokarczuk." Matinee zum Internationalen Frauentag. GEDOK Lübeck, 8 Mar 2020.
- "Novels about Scientific Expedition Narratives: Pre-WWI Heroic Explorers in Beryl Bainbridge's The Birthday Boys and Barry Unsworth's Land of Marvels." Historical Fictions Research Conference 2020, Unipark Nonntal, University of Salzburg, 21-22 February.
- "Fiction Meets Science Meets Library? Einblicke in ein Forschungsprojekt und Überlegungen zur Zusammenarbeit mit der Universitätsbibliothek." VDB Göttingen, 6-7 Feb 2020.
- "Der Booker Prize und seine Ableger: Überlegungen zu Literaturpreisen im (trans-)nationalen Raum." Workshop Literaturpreise – Theorie, Ökonomie, Politik. Universität Duisburg-Essen, 25./26. April 2019.
- "Producing Knowledge in and of the Arctic: Franklin’s Lost Expedition in Contemporary Historical Fiction." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2019. London Royal Holloway, April 2019.
- "Knowing Antarctica: Expedition Novels as Forms of Literary Re-Enactment." Anglistentag. Sektion: "What Form Knows: The Literary Text as Framework, Model, and Experiment." Bonn, 23-26 Sept 2018.
- "Exploring Global Dimensions of the History of Science in Expedition Narratives". 3rd International Conference on Science & Literature, 2-4 July 2018, Paris.
- "What is an award? Methods, Media, and the Man Booker Prize." Keynote Lecture at the Symposium: And the Winner is…? Prizes and Awards in Arts and Culture. CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies, University of Leicester, 4 June 2018.
- "Science Novels in Transcultural Contexts: Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost and Manu Joseph’s Serious Men." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2018. Oxford Brookes, April 2018.
- "Empathy and the Scientist Reviewer: Critical Perspectives on Scientist Characters in Contemporary Fiction." EMPATHIES: 11th SLSAeu Conference. University of Basel, 21-24 June 2017.
- "Fictional Science Narratives and their Global Dimensions: Media Spheres of the 'Transcultural Science Novel'." Narrating Science: The Power of Stories in the 21st Century. Toronto, 24-27 May 2017.
- "Fantasies of Control: Genetics and the Fates of Scientists in Contemporary fiction." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2016. University of Bristol, April 2017. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Exploring the Other, Excavating the Self? Representations of Archaeological Digs in Contemporary Expedition Novels."Writing Remains: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Archaeology and Literature. University of Bristol, 20 January 2017.
- "In Search of a Common Problem: Matching Interests in Research Collaborations across the Two Cultures". Science Humanities Colloquium. Cardiff University, 3 Dec 2016. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Canons and Critical Profiles of the Contemporary ‘Science Novel’: Perspectives on Genres, Markets and Media Presence." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2016. University of Birmingham, April 2016. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Evaluating Literature: Prizes, Reviews, Criticism." Ringvorlesung: Kultur und ihre Wissenschaften. CvO University of Oldenburg, 22 Jun 2015.
- "Visions of the Immoral Scientist: Morality and the Perception of Science in Ian McEwan’s Solar and other Contemporary Climate Change Stories." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2015. University of Liverpool, 16-18 Apr 2015. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Speculative Fiction and the Social and Literary Significance of Plausibility: Debating the Dystopian Science in Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake." Fiction Meets Science Workshop: Cultivating Ideas for a New Program, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 18-19 Nov, 2014 (joint paper with Emanuel Herold, Sina Farzin, Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Macro-level problems, micro-level solutions?" The Reception of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior in reviews and reading groups." Fiction Meets Science Workshop: Cultivating Ideas for a New Program, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 18-19 Nov, 2014 (joint paper with Sonja Fücker, Uwe Schimank, Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Neuroscience, Anxiety and Meta-Narrative in Recent British Neuronovels: David Lodge’s Thinks… and Ian McEwan’s Saturday." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2014. University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, 10-12 Apr 2014. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Reviewing the Two Cultures: Discussing Contemporary Fiction in Nature." International Conference on Narrative 2013. Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. 27-29 Jun 2013.
- "The Human in Nature: The Role of Literature, the Human and the Two Cultures in Leading Science Journals." The British Society for Literature and Science Annual Conference 2013. Cardiff University, Wales, 11-13 Apr 2013.
- "Performing Authorship between Empowerment and Containment: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Literary Win-Win Situations". Reconfiguring Authorship. Ghent University, Belgium, 15-18 Nov 2012. (with Olaf Simons)
- "Literature and Fiction in Contemporary Multi-Disciplinary Science Journals". 11th ESSE Conference 2012: Seminar 31. Interconnections Between Literature and Science. Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, 4-8 Sept 2012.
- "The Institution of Literary Prizes". The Institution of Literature. Georg-August Universität, Göttingen, 30 Aug - 1 Sept 2012.
- "The History of the Booker Prize as a History of Problems and Precarious Alliances". Prekäre Allianzen. HWK, Delmenhorst, 14-16 Jun 2012.
- "The Role of the Critic". Ringvorlesung: Kultur und ihre Wissenschaften. CvO University of Oldenburg. 6 Jun 2012.
- "The Role of Fiction in Multi-Disciplinary Science Journals: A Structured Survey (1990-2010)". BSLS 2012 Conference, Oxford, 12-14 April 2012. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Science as an Issue in Contemporary Literary Communication." Fiction Meets Science Workshop, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst, 18 Nov 2011. (with Anton Kirchhofer)
- "Literature as Communication". A Symposium on Literature as Communication. Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, 2-3 Sept 2011. (with Olaf Simons)
- "Reading Postsecular Readings: The Sacred in Literary Texts and the Empowerment of the Critic". Empowerment and the Sacred: An Interdisciplinary Conference. University of Leeds, Institute of Colonial & Postcolonial Studies. 24-26 June 2011.
- "The Culture of Literary Prizes: Im Wettbewerb um Würdigung". Ringvorlesung: Kultur und ihre Wissenschaften. CvO University of Oldenburg. 15 June 2011.
- "Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (2008). Zwischen Repräsentanz und Kontroverse". Workshop Gegenwart kontrovers. Literatur – Musik – Film – Bildende Kunst. LMU Munich. 28 Jul 2009.
- "Sex & the City of Science: Populärkultur aus (Geistes)-Wissenschaftlicher Sicht". Oldenburg: Stadt der Wissenschaft. CvO University of Oldenburg. English Department/American Studies. 29 Jun 2009. (with Maike Engelhardt, Annika McPherson, and Christina Meyer).
Conferences / Workshops / Events
- Workshop: FMS Study Group Kick-off Workshop, 14-15 Dezember 2023. (with S. Farzin)
- International Conference: Fiction and the Anthropocene, IIT Kharagpur, 1-3 November 2023. (with S. Das, A. Pratihar, and A. Kirchhofer)
- Panel: Non-Knowledge is Power? Transformations of the Concept of Ignorance in Enlightenment Literature and Culture. 16th Congress of ISECS, 3-7 July 2023. (with S. Broders)
- Workshop: Scientific Expedition Narratives, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK, Delmenhorst), 19-21 June 2023. (funded by HWK and MWK / Pro Niedersachsen)
- Symposium:The Ethics and Narratives of Non-Knowledge: Literary and Cultural Perspectives on the Limits of Research. Thematic Week: Ethics of Science. Current Challenges, Opportunities and Limitations. VolkswagenStiftung, Hannover, 2-4 November 2022. (with Simone Broders; funded by VolkswagenStiftung)
- Workshop: Scientific Expedition Narratives, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK, Delmenhorst; online), 16.-18.February 2022. (funded by Fritz Thyssen Stiftung)
- Sektion: "Limits of Knowledge, Knowledge of Limits. The Productiveness of Ignorance, Non-Knowledge and Agnotology in Anglophone Studies, Literature and Culture." Anglistentag 2021, Passau (online), 19-21 September 2021. (with Simone Broders)
- FMS Writer-Scholars-Scientists-Workshops
- "Experimental Encounters with Karen Fowler on We Are Completely Beside Ourselves" (Nov 2024)
- "Experimental Encounters with Catherine Bush on Blaze Island" (Dec 2021)
- "Experimental Encounters with Susan Gaines on Accidentals" (Jul 2021)
- "Experimental Encounters with Jaspreet Singh on a forthcoming novel" (Dec 2020)
- "Experimental Encounters with Chrissy Kolaya on Charmed Particles" (Feb 2020)
- "Experimental Encounters with Pippa Goldschmidt on a forthcoming novel" (Jun 2018)
- "Experimental Encounters with Bernhard Kegel on Abgrund" (Dec 2017)
- "Experimental Encounters with Jaspreet Singh on Helium" (Nov 2017)
- "Experimental Encounters with Susan Gaines on Carbon Dreams" (May 2016)
- Narrating Science: The Power of Stories in the 21st Century. FMS and University of Guelph Conference. Toronto, 24-27 May 2017. ("Reading and conversation with novelists Allegra Goodman & Karen Joy Fowler", moderation)
- Beyond the Literary Science Novel? Genres of Narrating Science Novels and the Case of Climate Change Fiction. Workshop. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 16 Dec 2016. (co-organized with Sina Farzin)
- Pippa Goldschmidt and Zoe Beck, The Falling Sky / Weiter als der Himmel. Author reading and discussion. Haus der Wissenschaft, 18 Jun 2015. (moderation)
- Fiction Meets Science Conference. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 19-21 Nov 2014.
- Fiction Meets Science II. Workshop. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 12-13 October, 2012.
- Fiction Meets Science. Workshop. Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst. 18 November 2011.
- Postsecular Britain? Religion, Culture and Agency. 19. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für das Studium Britischer Kulturen, Oldenburg. 20-22 November 2008. (organized and conducted a student conference wokshop)
Translations
- with I. Mendoza und S. Grzesinska
- Jakobson, R.O., "Die Vergangenheit" von Cyprian Norwid. In: Birus, H.; S. Donat (Hgg.), Roman Jakobson. Poesie der Grammatik und Grammatik der Poesie. Sämtliche Gedichtanalysen, Bd. 1. Berlin – New York 2007, S. 355-374.
- Jakobson, R.O., "Gefühl" von Cyprian Norwid. In: Birus, H.; S. Donat (Hgg.), Roman Jakobson. Poesie der Grammatik und Grammatik der Poesie. Sämtliche Gedichtanalysen, Bd. 1. Berlin – New York 2007, S. 375-394.
- Jakobson, R.O., Polnische Illustrationen zu "Linguistik und Poetik". In: Birus, H.; S. Donat (Hgg), Roman Jakobson. Poesie der Grammatik und Grammatik der Poesie. Sämtliche Gedichtanalysen, Bd. 2. Berlin – New York 2007, S. 217-236.