Functie

The NWO-funded research project ‘Uncovering Joyful Culture: Parodic Literature and Practices in and around the Low Countries (13th-17th centuries)’ explores the cultural practices and the literary production of joyful culture (among which parodic texts in French and Dutch), in order to demonstrate the essential role of parody in social cohesion in the pre-modern era. The project will offer a comparative, transnational approach, in order to show how joyful culture helped to bind together various social groups in pre-seventeenth-century society, and how parody was used to reinforce group identity and the sense of belonging to a community, whether at the scale of a regional political entity, a city, or a professional group. To do so, a range of literary texts, products and artefacts will be contextualised with archival material.

As a PhD-student, you will carry out the subproject ‘The joyful summons in Europe: production, circulation and transformations of a literary genre (13th-17th centuries)’ which is aimed at studying a corpus of literary texts in manuscripts and prints in French, with a comparative approach of texts in other languages (Dutch, English and German), in order to establish the main features of this parodic genre, its variations across time, space and language, as well as its possible reception in pre-modern society.

You will work under the supervision of the project leader dr. Katell Lavéant and complete a dissertation within four years.

In addition, you will work as a member of the core research team, together with dr. Lavéant and a post-doctoral researcher. As such, you will participate in conferences and other activities related to the project.

You will take part in the PhD curriculum organised by the Dutch national research school for Medieval Studies (Onderzoeksschool Mediëvistiek). This curriculum is designed to support PhD students in developing their skills, competence and self-awareness as researchers.

You will be based at the Utrecht Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, section French studies, and will be affiliated to the research institute for cultural enquiries (ICON), both of which provide a stimulating and internationally oriented research environment.

Profiel

• You have completed a (research) Master’s degree in (French) Medieval Literature or a comparable degree;
• You are fluent in French and have sufficient command of middle and Renaissance French to work on the relevant sources;
• You have a good command of at least one of these languages and are able to read or quickly learn reading their early modern form: Dutch, English and/or German;
• You are able to work both as a creative and independent researcher and as part of a team, and to deliver expected results according to schedule;
• You have experience in combining historical and philological work with conceptual analysis;
• You have some experience with interdisciplinary research methods or are willing to acquire them;
• You are seeking new challenges in an international environment and are ready to work in a team in order to gain wider experience of your field of research;
• If needed, you will follow courses in order to learn/improve your Dutch (or any other language relevant for your research).

Aanbod

You will be offered a full-time PhD position (1,0 FTE), starting 1 March 2016 or soon after, initially for a period of eighteen months. Upon good performance, the contract will be extended for another 30 months (four years in total). The gross monthly salary starts at € 2,125 in the first year, ending at € 2,717 in the fourth year (1,0 FTE).

Utrecht University offers a pension scheme, a holiday allowance of 8% per year, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the Collective Employment Agreement of the Dutch Universities. For more information visit Working at Utrecht University and the terms of employment.

Over de organisatie

Utrecht University strives for excellence in teaching and study performance. This also holds for the clearly defined research profiles with respect to four core themes: Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability. Utrecht University has a strong commitment to community outreach and contributes to answering the social questions of today and tomorrow.

The Faculty of Humanities has around seven thousand students and nine hundred staff members. It comprises four knowledge domains: Philosophy and Religious Studies, History and Art History, Media and Culture Studies, and Languages, Literature and Communication. With its research and education in these fields, the Faculty aims to contribute to a better understanding of the Netherlands and Europe in a rapidly changing social and cultural context. The enthusiastic and committed colleagues and the excellent amenities in the historical city centre of Utrecht, where the Faculty is housed, contribute to an inspiring working environment.

Aanvullende informatie

For further information about the vacancy, please contact dr. Katell Lavéant project leader, email: k.laveant@uu.nl.

More information about the project: Uncovering Joyful Culture (NWO website).

Solliciteren

Applications should include:
(1) a letter of motivation;
(2) a curriculum vitae;
(3) two references;
(4) two writing samples (i.e. two papers or a paper and your master’s thesis).

To apply, please click the button below.
Interviews will be scheduled for the week of 11-15 January 2016. Employment will become effective as of 1 March 2016.

The application deadline is 30 November 2015.

Source : PeopleXS