Syamala Roberts

Dr Syamala Roberts serves as an Affiliated Lecturer in the German Section of the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and holds a Fellowship with Director of Studies responsibilities at Emmanuel College. Her academic profile spans teaching German and Comparative Literatures from the 18th century to contemporary periods, alongside specialized supervision in undergraduate papers Ge1, Ge5, Ge6, and Ge12.

Her educational foundation encompasses German, French, and Comparative Literatures studied across the University of Cambridge, University of Paris, and Humboldt University of Berlin. This multilingual background informs her interdisciplinary scholarship.

Roberts' research investigates Modernism through intersecting lenses of Sound Studies, Media Theory, and Art History, with particular emphasis on auditory representation in early 20th-century German texts. Her doctoral work identified emerging 'aural imaginaries' in Rilke, Kafka, and Thomas Mann, while current postdoctoral research examines Indo-German cultural cross-fertilization during the interwar period. This includes analyzing reciprocal intellectual exchanges between German-speaking intellectuals and pre-independence Indian thinkers through literary and artistic production.

Recent publications demonstrate consistent thematic focus across German literary studies and cross-cultural analysis, particularly in journals like the Publications of the English Goethe Society and Austrian Studies. Key contributions address Kafka's auditory poetics, comparative studies of Mann's Death in Venice with Rilke's elegies, and critical assessments of German-Indian cultural intersections.

No major scientific awards are documented in available sources. As Director of Studies, Roberts provides undergraduate supervision and encourages Year Abroad Project proposals aligned with her research interests. Her postdoctoral work receives institutional support through an Emmanuel College research fellowship.