معرفی
Prof. Dr. Martina Wernli is Professor of Modern German Literature with a focus on media and cultural studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin since March 2025. She is affiliated with the Faculty of Languages and Literature and the Institute of German Literature. Previously, she served as a research assistant at the University of Frankfurt am Main (2018-2025) with substitute professorships at universities in Neuchâtel, Mainz, and Zurich. Her academic journey includes habilitation at Frankfurt in 2020, doctoral studies at ETH Zurich completed in 2012, and education at the University of Zurich and Humboldt University Berlin.
Her educational background includes:
- 2004: Master's degree from University of Zurich
- 2006: Diploma in Secondary School Teaching at University of Zurich
- 1997-2004: Studies in German, philosophy and English literature at University of Zurich and Humboldt University Berlin
- 2012: Doctoral dissertation on "Writing on the Margins: The 'Cantonal Asylum Waldau' and its Narratives (1895–1936)" at ETH Zurich
- 2020: Habilitation at University of Frankfurt am Main with thesis "Reading Feathers: A Literary History of the Goose Quill from Its Beginnings to the 19th Century"
Prof. Wernli's research explores the intersections of material culture and literature, with particular focus on literature, knowledge systems and their media. Her work examines narratives from 1750-1850, female authors around 1800, literature and gender studies, processes of marginalization and canonization, and the relationship between psychiatry and writing. She approaches these topics through interdisciplinary lenses that combine literary analysis with cultural history and material studies.
Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on material culture, particularly examining writing tools, fashion, and everyday objects as literary and cultural phenomena. There's a strong emphasis on recovering marginalized voices, especially women writers of the Romantic period, and analyzing how material objects function within literary texts and historical contexts. Her work bridges historical literary analysis with contemporary concerns about representation and canon formation.
Her notable scientific achievements include:
- Barbara and Piergiuseppe Scardigli Prize for the Promotion of the Humanities for the Habilitation (2022)
Prof. Wernli is actively involved in academic mentoring and collaborative research projects. She coordinates the #breiterkanon network with approximately 70 international and interdisciplinary participants since 2020, which focuses on canonization processes in academic and school settings. She has also developed reading recommendations on marginalized texts through lueckenliste.de and is involved in organizing significant academic conferences such as the "Continuing to Write Literary History Intersectionally" seminar.
She leads a research team at the Institute of German Literature including Dr. Esther Köhring and Dr. Denise Reimann as research associates, along with student assistants Emira Donlagic and Aiman Nasrallah. Her office is located in Room 3.510 at Dorotheenstraße 24, where she holds consultation hours Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
