Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau
Biobibliography
Barbara Buchenau is Professor of North American Studies: Literary and Cultural Studies. She served as UDE’s Vice-Rector of Social Responsibility, Diversity and International Affairs from April 2018 to March 2022, and has directed the inter-university research group Scripts for Postindustrial Urban Futures: American Models, Transatlantic Interventions funded by the Volkswagen Foundation from 2018 to 2023. As a principal investigator in the DFG Research Unit 2600 Ambiguity and Distinction: Historical and Cultural Dynamics (2019 – 2023) she investigates prominent figures of thought bridging divides of faith, race, and belonging that have accompanied the slow transition from colonial settings to national rule in North America. As a member of the Aurora European University Alliance and lead of its work package 3 on Learning for Societal Impact (2020-2023) she is invested in internationalizing the curricula and improving academic contributions to the sustainable development goals. Her teaching and research are concerned with the fields of cultural theory, cultural history, urban studies, multilingual early Americana, historical forms of popular culture, cultural pluralism and multiculturalism. She is also interested in Canadian and Caribbean literature and cultural history. She is inviting student research in three fields in particular: the era of pluralization in North American writings, the diverse intersections between literature and the land in North America, and the cultural and political work of stereotypical and typological representations of minority groups in texts, maps and visual art. Before joining the faculty of Duisburg-Essen, she taught Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Bern in Switzerland (Assistenzprofessorin). She received her academic training in American literature and culture at the University of Göttingen.
Geisteswissenschaften/Anglisik/Amerikanistik
45141 Essen
Functions
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Professor/in, Anglistik: Nordamerikastudien II - North American Cultural Studies
Current lectures
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WiSe 2025
- American Studies: Areas, Approaches, Methods
- Sustainable Urbanities in North America and Europe
- Doctoral Colloquium in Literary and Cultural Studies
- RUDESA 2026: Transnational American Studies in the Era of Neo-Imperialism
- Empires of Ambiguity
- A Survey of American Literature Gr. 3
- Theses in American Studies
- E3 - GeiWi_Angl - A Survey of American Literature - Cr. 3-3
Past lectures (max. 10)
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SoSe 2025
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WiSe 2024
The following publications are listed in the online university bibliography of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Further information may also be found on the person's personal web pages.
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Auf ins Unbekannte! : Denkfiguren und das Leben mit abstrakten UnterscheidungenIn: Unikate: Berichte aus Forschung und Lehre, 2022, Nr. 58, Geisteswissenschaften : Uneindeutigkeit und kultureller Wandel, pp. 108 – 115DOI, Online Full Text (Open Access)
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The Goods of Bad Mobility: Pierre-Esprit Radisson’s Relation of my Voyage, being in Bondage in the Lands of the Irokoits, 1669/1885In: Swiss papers in English language and literature (SPELL), 2012, Nr. 27, pp. 53 – 68
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Inventing Iroquoia? Migrating Tropes of Similarity and Heritage in Francophone Narratives of Colonial PossessionIn: FIAR: Forum for Inter-American Research, Vol. 4, 2011, Nr. 2
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Die Literatur mit Hilfe didaktischer Ansätze zur eigenen Sache machen: Offener, fächerverbindender Unterricht in der universitären Fremd-sprachenlehrerausbildungIn: Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht : LWU, Vol. 41, 2008, Nr. 2/3, pp. 179 – 196
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An Introduction to Intercultural Negotiations in the Americas and BeyondIn: CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol. 3, 2001, Nr. 2, 1DOI (Open Access)
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Comparativist Interpretations of the Frontier in Early American Fiction and Literary HistoriographyIn: CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol. 3, 2001, Nr. 2, 8DOI (Open Access)
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Introduction: How to do things with empiresIn: Post-empire imaginaries?: Anglophone literature, history, and the demise of empires / Buchenau, Barbara; Richter, Virginia (Eds.). Leiden [u.a.]: Brill, 2015, pp. xiii – xxxvi
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Ausdrücke der Unerreichbarkeit : Bezeichnungen, Begrifflichkeiten und sprachliche Bilder für Konversion und KonvertierteIn: Ambiguität und Unterscheidung: Kaleidoskopische Betrachtungen / Scheller, Benjamin; Müllerburg, Marcel (Eds.). Frankfurt: Campus, 2025, pp. 137 – 162
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Crypto-Religion and State Power : Dis/Ambiguating Faith, Granting Rights and PropertyIn: Ambiguität und Unterscheidung: Kaleidoskopische Betrachtungen / Scheller, Benjamin; Müllerburg, Marcel (Eds.). Frankfurt: Campus, 2025, pp. 237 – 272
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Interferenzen in Regimen der Unterscheidung : Geschlecht, race und ReligionIn: Ambiguität und Unterscheidung: Kaleidoskopische Betrachtungen / Scheller, Benjamin; Müllerburg, Marcel (Eds.). Frankfurt: Campus, 2025, pp. 61 – 111
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Revolutionszeit und frühe RepublikIn: Amerikanische Literaturgeschichte / Zapf, Hubert; Müller, Timo (Eds.). Berlin: Metzler, 2024, pp. 45 – 104
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City Scripts in Urban Literary and Cultural StudiesIn: City Scripts: Narratives of Postindustrial Urban Futures / Buchenau, Barbara; Gurr, Jens Martin; Sulimma, Maria (Eds.). Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2023, pp. 1 – 24
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Walking Down Woodward Avenue : (Re-)Telling a City’s Stories through Urban Figures.In: City Scripts: Narratives of Postindustrial Urban Futures / Buchenau, Barbara; Gurr, Jens Martin; Sulimma, Maria (Eds.). Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2023, pp. 44 – 68
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"Scripts" in Urban Development : Procedural Knowledge, Self-Description and Persuasive Blueprint for the FutureIn: Charting Literary Urban Studies: Texts as Models of and for the City / Gurr, Jens Martin (Eds.). New York: Routledge, 2021, pp. 141 – 163DOI (Open Access)
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On the textuality of American cities and their others : a disputationIn: Projecting American studies: essays on theory, method, and practice / Kelleter, Frank; Starre, Alexander (Eds.). Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2018, pp. 135 – 152
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Cain's Land, or troping indigenous agricultureIn: The Routledge companion to inter-American studies / Raussert, Wilfried (Eds.). London ; New York: Routledge, 2017, pp. 283 – 295
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Cain’s Land, or troping indigenous agricultureIn: The Routledge Companion to Inter-American Studies / Raussert, Wilfried. London: Taylor & Francis, 2017, pp. 283 – 295
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City scripts : urban American studies and the conjunction of textual strategies and spatial processesIn: Urban transformations in the U.S.A. :: spaces, communities, representations / Sattler, Julia (Eds.). Bielefeld: transcript, 2016, pp. 395 – 420
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Empire, nation, urbanity : renewing scripts and frames in the Old NorthwestIn: Hemispheric encounters: the Early United States in a transnational perspective / Pisarz-Ramirez, Gabriele; Heide, Markus (Eds.). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2016, pp. 53 – 72
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Urbanität Neu Denken? : Provokationen aus der nordamerikanischen GegenwartskulturIn: Neu gedacht und neu gemacht: Lehrideen aus der Universität Duisburg-Essen. Duisburg ; Essen: Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2015, pp. 54 – 59
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Erdichtetes Wissen über das präkoloniale Amerika : Junge Märkte und Ideen im Bann des Song of Hiawatha (1855)In: Von Käfern, Märkten und Menschen: Kolonialismus und Wissen in der Moderne / Habermas, Rebekka; Przyrembel, Alexandra (Eds.). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013, pp. 221 – 232
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Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandIn: Unter dem roten Wunderschirm: Lesarten klassischer Kinder- und Jugendliteratur / Bräuer, Christoph Reinhard (Eds.). Göttingen: Wallstein-Verl., 2013, pp. 347 – 361
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The Captive’s Crucible: Haudenosaunee Violence in Early North American Narratives of Christian and Cultural ConversionIn: Interculturalism in North America: Canada, the United States, Mexico, and beyond / Raab, Josef; Greiffenstern, Alexander (Eds.). Trier: Wiss. Verl. [u.a.], 2013, pp. 27 – 56
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Ethnic Performance and the Self-Representation of Frederick Philip GroveIn: American multiculturalism and ethnic survival / von Bardeleben, Renate; Matter-Seibel, Sabina; Schmidt, Klaus H. (Eds.). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 2012, pp. 81 – 96
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Prefiguring CanAmerica? White Man’s Indians and Religious Typology in New England and New FranceIn: Transnational American studies / Hebel, Udo J. (Eds.). Heidelberg: Winter, 2012, pp. 165 – 182
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Amerika – ‚für die liebe Jugend frei bearbeitet’In: Der rote Wunderschirm: Kinderbücher der Sammlung Seifert von der Frühaufklärung bis zum Nationalsozialismus / Wangerin, Wolfgang; Seifert, Jürgen; Bochem, Angelika (Eds.). Göttingen: Wallstein, 2011, pp. 217 – 222
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James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the MohicansIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 174 – 175
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Postethnic America? A Multicultural Training Camp for Americanists and Future EFL-TeachersIn: Identity in education / Sánchez-Casal, Susan; MacDonald, Amy (Eds.). New York [u.a.]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp. 225 – 250
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Alternate Identities and Creolities in Canadian Literary DiscourseIn: Hybrid Americas: contacts, contrasts, and confluences in New World literatures and cultures / Raab, Josef (Eds.). Berlin: LIT [u.a.], 2008, pp. 33 – 56
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Introduction to Literary Nationalization in the AmericasIn: Do the Americas Have a Common Literary History? / Buchenau, Barbara (Eds.). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 2002, pp. 49 – 57
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Introduction to Varieties of InternationalizationIn: Do the Americas have a common literary history? / Buchenau, Barbara; Paatz, Annette (Eds.). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 2002, 49-57, 295-300
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Normative Programs and Artistic Liberties: Inter-American Case Studies in Historical Fiction and the Campaign for Cultural Emancipation. A Summary StatementIn: Do the Americas have a common literary history? / Buchenau, Barbara; Paatz, Annette (Eds.). Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 2002, pp. 195 – 200
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From Influence Studies to Writer Response Criticism: A Brief Survey of Books on Anglo-American and British LiteraturesIn: The internationality of national literatures in either America: transfer and transformation. 2. British America and the United States, 1770s - 1850s / Frank, Armin Paul (Eds.). Göttingen: Wallstein-Verl., 2000, pp. 67 – 72
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Normative Programs and Artistic Liberties: Inter-American Case Studies in Historical Fiction and the Campaign for Cultural EmancipationIn: Internationalität nationaler Literaturen: Beiträge zum ersten Symposion des Göttinger Sonderforschungsbereichs 529 / Schöning, Udo (Eds.). Göttingen: Wallstein-Verl., 2000, pp. 348 – 389
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"Wizards of the West" : How Americans Responded to Sir Walter ScottIn: James Fenimore Cooper: His Country and His Art / 11ᵗʰ Cooper Seminar, James Fenimore Cooper: His Country and His Art at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, July, 1997 / Mac Dougall, Hugh C. (Eds.). Oneonta: SUNY Press, 1999, pp. 14 – 25
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City Scripts : Narratives of Postindustrial Urban FuturesColumbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2023
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Narrative in Urban Planning : A Practical Field GuideBielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2023DOI (Open Access)
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Post-empire imaginaries? : Anglophone literature, history, and the demise of empiresLeiden [u.a.]: Brill, 2015
(Cross cultures ; 182) -
Der frühe amerikanische historische Roman im transatlantischen VergleichFrankfurt am Main [u.a.]: lang, 2002
(Interamericana ; 2) -
Do the Americas have a common literary history?Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 2002
(Interamericana ; 1) -
Thematic Issue: Intercultural Negotiations in the Americas and BeyondWest Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2001
(CLC Web Comparative Literature and Culture ; 3.2) -
Atlantic History : Nation and Empire in Northern Atlantic HistoryIn: Oxford Bobliographies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019
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Adrienne Kennedy, Das dramatische WerkIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009
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James Fenimore Cooper, The DeerslayerIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 178 – 179
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James Fenimore Cooper, The PathfinderIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 178
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James Fenimore Cooper, The PioneersIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 173 – 174
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James Fenimore Cooper, The PrairieIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 175 – 176
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John Augustus Stone, MetamoraIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: 3., völlig neu bearb. Aufl, 2009
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John Steinbeck, Das RomanwerkIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 550 – 552
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Lydia Maria Child, HobomokIn: Kindlers Literatur-Lexikon / Arnold, Heinz Ludwig (Eds.). Stuttgart [u.a.]: Metzler, 2009, pp. 771 – 772
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Deutungsfragen : Wie statische Denkfiguren gesellschaftlichen Wandel erzeugen und begleiten
Die kleine Form, 30. November 2016, Essen,2016(Die kleine Form 2016/2017) -
Urban catastrophe in contemporary screen culture
Grounding Transnational American Studies in Euro-American Contexts ; RUDESA ; Radboud University Duisburg-Essen Spring Academy ; Nijmegen, March 16 – 18, 2015 ; Essen, March 18 – 20, 2015,2015
Journal articles
Prefaces/Postfaces
Book articles / Proceedings papers
Books, Collections, Proceedings
Encyclopedia entries
Lectures
- colonial and early national literary and cultural history of North America
- urban transformations, urbanity and anti-urbanism
- politics and poetics of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism
- early modern scholarship and its arts
- historical fiction
- religious typology, figuration, scripting
- ethnic and racial stereotyping: sounds, sights, verbal features
- Inter-American studies
- comparative cultural and literary geography
Since October 2012
Full Professor of North American Studies: Cultural and Literary Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
02/2010 – 09/2012
Assistant Professor (Assistenzprofessorin) of Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies, Department of English, University of Bern, Switzerland
2001 – January 2010
Assistant Professor (wissenschaftliche Assistentin), American Studies Program, University of Göttingen, Germany
2004 – 2005
Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, U.S.A.
2000
Postdoctoral researcher, Inter-American research collaboration, Göttingen
1997 – 1999
Researcher, Collaborative Research Center SFB 529 Internationality of National Literatures, University of Göttingen
1994 – 1996
Research Assistant, Collaborative Research Center SFB 309 Literary Translation and Transcoop Project “Contacts and Transfers in the Construction of National Literatures” (Proffs. A.P. Frank, K. Mueller-Vollmer)
Education
June 2010
Habilitation (Post-Doctoral Degree), University of Göttingen, Germany. venia legendi for American Studies. Postdoctoral thesis on the literary and scientific construction of the Iroquois in colonial North America.
February 1999
Dr. phil., University of Göttingen, Germany. Doctoral thesis (summa cum laude) on the transatlantic literary and cultural politics of early U.S. American historical fiction (published in 2002)
July 1994
1. state exam in Geography and English, University of Göttingen, Germany. Thesis paper on “certainty” in the fiction of William Faulkner and George Washington Cable
Spring 1988
Intensive Language and Culture Studies at the Colegio de España, Salamanca, Spain
2023
Thyssen Lesezeit, a research fellowship jointly awarded with Dr. Alexander Starre, FU Berlin (Az. 20.22.0.026TL)
2001 – 2009
Dorothea-Erxleben Fellow, Department of Science and Culture, Lower Saxony, Germany
2004 – 2005
Feodor Lynen Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, for research at Stanford University
1999
Publication Award of the Göttingen School of the Humanities