Annette Damayanti Lienau

Annette Damayanti Lienau is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University, specializing in post-colonial literary studies through multilingual frameworks. Her work bridges Asia and Africa by analyzing the legacy of the Arabic language in counter-imperial narratives, focusing on regions like the Dutch East Indies, French West Africa, and Egypt under British occupation.

• Education:
  • PhD in Comparative Literature, Yale University
  • Certificate in Arabic Studies, Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA), American University in Cairo
  • M.A. in French Studies, Middlebury College
  • Intensive Wolof training, Center for Applied Linguistics, University of Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar

Her research engages with languages such as Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, Indonesian, and Wolof, emphasizing their roles in transcultural literary histories. Recent work explores sabotage, counter-revolution, and anti-authoritarian protest movements in contemporary Egyptian and Indonesian literature.

Scientific Awards:

• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
• Wellesley Newhouse Center for the Humanities Fellowship
• American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
• Mellon Dissertation Completion Fellowship
• Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship for Cultures in Transnational Perspective
• Mellon Sawyer Seminar Grant
• Social Science Research Council International Research Fellowship

Lienau’s publications include her seminal 2024 book and contributions to journals such as PMLA, Comparative Literature, and Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She has conducted fieldwork in Egypt, Indonesia, Senegal, France, and the Netherlands.