Elisabeth Lechner

Elisabeth Lechner is a Lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of English and American Studies, University of Vienna, where she completed her PhD in 2020. She currently develops a habilitation project on food and 'critical digestion' in Anglophone literature, spanning auto/biographical narratives, lockdown novels, and ecofeminist fiction.

Education:

• PhD, University of Vienna, 2020

Her research operates at the intersection of literary, cultural, and media studies with specialized focus on affect and body studies. Key investigations include representations of 'disgusting' female bodies, body positivity movements, digital feminist activism, and the cultural politics of food within contexts of climate collapse and neo-liberal capitalism. She critically examines how literature and media negotiate bodily autonomy, ecofeminist resistance, and intersections of gender, race, and class.

Recent publications reveal a cohesive trajectory toward interdisciplinary feminist scholarship that bridges literary analysis with urgent socio-political concerns. Her work increasingly connects body politics to environmental justice through ecofeminist frameworks, while exploring digital spaces as sites of both oppression (body shaming, lookism) and liberation (fat activism, care networks). A distinctive emphasis on joy and connection within feminist discourse emerges alongside critiques of 'cannibal capitalism'.

As an ÖAD Science Ambassador since 2025, Lechner conducts workshops on media literacy and body politics in Viennese schools. Her public engagement extends through social media (@femsista) and outreach activities addressing lookism and digital citizenship. Teaching portfolio includes specialized seminars on ecofeminism, food politics, and body image in language education contexts.