Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich

In her research project on representations of domestic service, Marion Gymnich explores changes and continuities in a wide range of literary and non-fictional depictions and negotiations of asymmetrical dependencies that shaped the lives of domestic servants in Britain from the Restoration period to the end of the nineteenth century. The juxtaposition of fictional representations of domestic service that were targeted at a middle-class and/or upper-class readership (in plays, poems and novels), 'lowbrow' texts (such as street ballads) and non-fictional texts (e.g., diaries, letters, advertisements, and testimonies by employers and servants), promises to shed new light on social stereotypes and recurring narratives that informed dominant discourses on relations between employers and (domestic) servants. More often than not, the stereotypes and narratives (with their implicit assumptions about 'normal' life trajectories) sought to legitimize and perpetuate patterns of asymmetrical dependency, although traces of resistance and subversive (literary) performances can also be found. Gender, age, social mobility, changing notions of ‘family’, ‘home’ and human development as well as numerous literary strategies of voicing and silencing are among the key concepts drawn upon in this project.

6 books (3 of these co-authored), 18 (co-)edited volumes, more than 100 articles, more than 30 contributions to lexica and encyclopedias, more than 20 reviews; numerous national and international lectures and papers; 11 completed doctorates as first supervisor; 22 completed doctorates as second supervisor; 1 completed Habilitation as co-mentor (University of Heidelberg).

1999–2006
Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Cologne and the University of Giessen, Germany; Habilitation in English Studies at the University of Giessen, Germany, Venia legendi in English Studies

1994–1999
Ph.D. Studies in English Literature, University of Cologne, Germany

1987–1994
M.A. Studies in English and American Studies, German Studies and Slavic Studies, University of Cologne, Germany

since 2023
Dean of Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Bonn

2013-2023
Member of the University Council, University of Bonn

since 2007

Professor for English Literature and Culture, University of Bonn

2008–2013
Dean of Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Bonn

2007
Visiting Professor, University of Graz, Austria

2006–2007
Substitute Professor for English and American Studies, University of Giessen, Germany

2004
Guest lecturer, University of Łodž, Poland

2002–2006
Coordinator of the International and Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Giessen, Germany

1994–2002
Research Associate, English Department, University of Cologne, Germany

Member of TRA 5 - Present Pasts

2016–2020
Member of the interdisciplinary research project “Phraseorom – Phraseology of the novel”, funded jointly by the German Research Foundation and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche

2002–2007
Member of the Giessen Graduate Centre

2002–2006
Coordinator of the International and Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Giessen, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service