Kjersti Bale

Kjersti Bale is a Professor of General Literature at the University of Oslo (UiO), affiliated with the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages under the Faculty of Humanities. She holds a position in Niels Treschows hus, Oslo. Her primary research focuses on melancholy, aesthetics, and essays by women authors like Virginia Woolf and Simone Weil. She has led significant academic initiatives, including establishing the Programme for Aesthetic Studies (2003–2005) and serving as Head of the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages (2009–2012).

Her editorial roles include membership on the boards of Agora, Kultur&Klasse, and Norsk Litteraturvitenskapelig Tidsskrift. She is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Coordinating Committee for the Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages Series (CHLEL), supported by the Union Académique Internationale and ICLA. From 2021–2025, she served as an external faculty member at HF, UiB.

Her research groups include 'Aesthetics and Politics,' 'ILLREP' (on illness representations), and 'The Aesthetics of Friendship.' She has contributed to national and international committees, including the Research Council of Norway’s Divisional Board (2015–2018) and HERA Network Board.