Anna Lüscher

Junior Member

Academic Career

Anna Lüscher has been a doctoral student at the University of Konstanz’s Department of English Literary Studies since 2017. She is working on her dissertation on liminality in E. T. A. Hoffmann's Night Plays, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter under the supervision of Prof. Dr Silvia Mergenthal and Prof. Dr Michael Ott.

Before beginning her dissertation, she earned an MA in Modern and Contemporary Studies from the University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, with a focus on theories of time and space in English literature, and a second MA from the University of Konstanz’s Master School in the Department of Literary Studies, with a focus on German Studies. She had also earned her bachelor's degree in English and German literature at the University of Konstanz.

During her Bachelor's degree, Anna worked as a research assistant to Prof. (em.) Dr. Dr. h.c. Aleida Assmann at the Chair of English Studies and, in 2021, she worked as an editor for the DLA Marbach’s "Literary Mapping" project.

Contact: anna.luescher@uni.kn / Twitter: @LuscherAnna

Research Interests

- Spatial theory

- Thresholds and borders

- Narratology

- Death, honor, and memory in literature

- Speculative (fantasy) fiction

- City literature

- Academic Writing

Dissertation Project

My dissertation project examines the works of Hoffmann, Doyle, and Rowling as case studies for possible applications of liminality. In particular, it traces similarities and differences between these works in relation to themes such as genre, mystery and the past, and explores the possibility of using threshold to define genre. For example, in these works, liminality may be utilized to demonstrate, in particular, the genesis of fantasy and its related or ostensibly contradictory genres. A chronological development between the works is suggested here, as are individual aspects within the respective works discussed. For example, Sherlock Holmes' London is explored as a liminal space and re-situated between the seemingly pastoral England and the rest of the world, as well as Holmes himself who is also re-situated as a character within the narrated world.

Courses and Talks

  • March 2021: Talk „Hagrid. Messenger of Nature and Death“ at the 42. International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts: “Climate Change and the Anthropocene" in Orlando, Florida (due to Covid online).
  • March 2020: Talk „Hagrid. Messenger of Nature and Death“ at the 41. International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts: “Climate Change and the Anthropocene" in Orlando, Florida (cancelled due to Covid).
  • September 2019: Staff exchange within the framework of "Erasmus+ Teaching and Learning" on the subject of “The Flâneur and the Modern City” at the University of Sussex, Colchester Campus, England.
  • March 2019: Talk „Contested Borders in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter“ at the 40. International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts: "Politics and Conflict” in Orlando, Florida.
  • SS 2019: Undergraduate Seminar „Analysing Harry Potter“ at the Department of Literature, Art, and Media Studies at the University of Konstanz.
  • WS 2018/19: Undergraduate Seminar „Fantastical Spaces“ at the Department of Literature, Art, and Media Studies at the University of Konstanz.
  • SS 2018: Undergraduate Seminar „Romanticism in Europe: England and Germany“ for the International Office at the University of Konstanz.
  • WS 2017/18 - WS 2018/19: Tutor for the introductory lecture „Einführung in die Allgemeine Literaturwissenschaft“ held by PD Dr Matthias Schöning at the University of Konstanz.
  • March 2016: Talk „Eine andere Perspektive auf 9/11: Kathrin Rögglas really ground zero“ at the Sechsten Prager Germanistische Studententagung (“Pragestt”), Charles University in Prague.

Memberships

Member of the Deutschen Anglistenverband since 20.07.2021.

Member of the Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung since 10.09.2021.

Co-initiator of the Collaborative Working Times for Doctoral Students at the University of Konstanz since January 2021.

Doctoral student representative on the Section Council of the Humanities Section at the University of Konstanz since 01.10.2019.

Board member of the Doctoral Students’ Convention of the Humanities Section at the University of Konstanz since 11.02.2019.

Member of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts since 01.01.2019.

Student representative in the Ausschuss für Lehre und Weiterbildung at the University of Konstanz from 01.10.18 until 30.09.19.