Nadia Cattoni

Nadia Cattoni is an Assistant Professor with conditional pre-tenure in Indian Studies at the University of Lausanne, appointed in 2023. She is based in the Section of Slavic and South Asian Languages and Civilizations within the Faculty of Arts, where she teaches the history of Hinduism and Indian languages and literatures, including Hindi and Braj.

Her research centers on premodern Indian literary traditions, particularly in the Braj language, with a focus on gender, sexuality, and intertextuality. She investigates the representation of the heroine (nāyikā) in texts like the Rasavilāsa, the connections between literature and northern Indian miniature painting, and the cultural exchanges between India and Europe, especially through the journeys of women artists.

Her recent scholarly contributions include co-edited volumes on early modern Indian literatures and images, and essays on South Asian history and literature. Her current research project, Women and the Court: Space, Time and Power, explores the life of a 17th-century courtesan through manuscript analysis, reflecting her interest in marginalized female voices in historical and literary contexts.

She completed her thesis at the University of Lausanne and pursued postdoctoral research in Paris and Venice, complemented by extensive fieldwork in India, which informs her interdisciplinary approach bridging literary studies, art history, and gender studies.

Nadia Cattoni is an emerging scholar in South Asian studies, contributing to the understanding of gendered narratives and cultural intersections in premodern and early modern India.