معرفی
Petra James is a Professor in the Department of Languages and Literature at the Faculty of Letters, Translation and Communication, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where she has held the Chair of Czech Studies since 2011. She served as head of the Department of Languages and Literature from 2021 to 2023 and founded the MODERNITAS research center in 2022, which she co-directs with Dennis Ioffe. Her academic journey began with a doctorate in comparative literature and Slavic studies from the University of Paris-Sorbonne and Masaryk University (joint supervision) in 2009.
Professor James' research focuses on the comparative history of modernism and the avant-garde, with particular expertise in Central European contexts. Her work examines Czech post-avant-garde in relation to French and American neo-avant-garde movements, pastoral and regional modernisms in Nordic and Slavic literatures, and the writings of Bohumil Hrabal. Her research approach is distinctly interdisciplinary, connecting literary studies with cultural history, memory studies, and spatial analysis.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on transnational perspectives in modernism studies, with particular attention to rural-urban dynamics, nature representation, and the interconnectedness of European avant-garde movements. Her work consistently bridges national literary traditions while exploring the specificities of Central European modernism.
- Plumer Visiting Research Fellow at Saint Anne's College, University of Oxford (2023)
- Principal Investigator for ARC project 'The Artist, the Scientist and the Industrialist' (2022-2027)
- Wiener-Anspach Foundation grant for 'When Rural Meets Urban' project (2022-2024)
- Two FER grants from ULB Research Council (2022, 2023)
Professor James has (co-)supervised six doctoral theses and maintains an active supervisory role. She has given over 100 presentations at prestigious institutions worldwide and regularly organizes international scholarly events, including workshops at Oxford in 2023. Her editorial work includes the ongoing 'Cultural History of Central European Avant-Gardes' project and numerous special journal issues. The MODERNITAS research center she founded provides a vibrant interdisciplinary environment for exploring modernisms from multiple perspectives, particularly through collaborations between humanities scholars and researchers in natural sciences and economics.
