معرفی
Hans Harder serves as Professor of Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures at Heidelberg University's South Asia Institute, where he has held his position since 2007. His academic career spans institutions including the universities of Hamburg, Heidelberg, and Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, where he completed both his PhD and postdoctoral work.
Research Interests: Professor Harder's scholarly focus encompasses modern South Asian literatures (particularly Bengali), religious movements from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, colonial and postcolonial intellectual history, and popular literature and film across South Asia. His work consistently examines the intersections of language, culture, and power in colonial and postcolonial contexts, with special attention to vernacular expressions of identity and resistance.
His recent publications reveal a deepening engagement with language ideologies and vernacular conceptualizations in South Asia, particularly evident in his 2024 co-authored work The Vernacular: Three Essays on an Ambivalent Concept and Its Uses in South Asia. Earlier works demonstrate his longstanding interest in religious movements (particularly Sufism in Bangladesh), literary satires from colonial Calcutta, and cross-cultural perceptions between colonized and colonizing societies. His scholarship bridges literary analysis, religious studies, and cultural history through meticulous textual examination and theoretical sophistication.
Professor Harder has established himself as a leading scholar through numerous monographs and edited volumes that have significantly shaped South Asian literary and intellectual studies. His collaborative work with scholars like Nishat Zaidi, Torsten Tschacher, Barbara Mittler, and Charu Gupta demonstrates his commitment to interdisciplinary and international scholarly exchange.
Based at Heidelberg University's South Asia Institute, Professor Harder continues to advance research on South Asian cultural production while mentoring students and contributing to the global academic community through his extensive publications and editorial work.
