معرفی
Dr. Roberto Di Bella serves as a Research Associate at the University of Siegen's Department of German Studies within the Faculty of Humanities, where he contributes to the Collaborative Research Center 1472 "Transformations of the Popular" (SFB 1472). His current research activities span multiple projects including "Pop, Literature and New Sensibility: Theories, Writing Styles, Experiments" (A06), "Somatics of the Popular: Transformations of the Corporeal" (AG5, 2021-2024), "Gender and Intersectionality" (Working Group 7, since 2025), "Imagery" (FW1, 2021-2024), and "Case studies" (FW5, since 2025), along with participation in the CRG "Cheap Books around 1970".
Di Bella's academic journey began in Gummersbach, where he was born and raised. He pursued studies in German and Romance languages (Italian/French) across multiple institutions including the Universities of Bonn, Rome, Munich, and Aachen. His international experience includes serving as a DAAD lecturer at the Université de Toulouse from 2006-2011. He completed his doctorate in 2011 at the University of Cologne under Erich Kleinschmidt with a dissertation on Rolf Dieter Brinkmann's late novel project, later published as "The Wildly Spotted Panorama of Another Dream" (2015).
His research profile centers on 20th and 21st century literature with particular expertise in contemporary poetry, production and reception studies, intertextuality, literature and migration, comparative literary studies (focusing on France, Italy, and the USA), Beat and underground literature, and text-image relations. His work consistently examines the intersections between popular culture and literary innovation, especially through the lens of the New Sensibility movement and Cologne's literary scene. Di Bella's scholarship demonstrates a sustained engagement with Rolf Dieter Brinkmann's work as both a literary figure and cultural catalyst.
Analysis of his publication record reveals a consistent scholarly trajectory focused on German literary modernism and postmodernism, with particular attention to the cultural transformations of the 1960s-1990s. His work demonstrates sophisticated methodological approaches combining textual analysis with cultural history, showing increasing attention to somatic dimensions of popular culture in recent years. The publications reflect strong international engagement through comparative frameworks and multilingual scholarship.
- Active contributor to the Centre de Recherche et d'Études Germaniques (CREG)
- Member of the German Association of Germanists
- Participant in the European Beat Studies Network
- Member of the Network "Literature Rhineland"
- Member of Literature Scene Cologne eV
- Member of PEN Center Germany eV
Di Bella has organized significant academic events including the 2021 conference "A Canon of the New Sensibility: Proposals" with Georg Stanitzek, Jörgen Schäfer, and Isabella Greiner, and the 2004 conference "Delimiting and Transgressing: 'Ver/verfahren' in Modernism Studies" with Martin Roussel. Beyond traditional academic work, he founded the authors' café fremdwOrte in 2015, creating space for dialogue between German and non-German speaking writers, journalists, and translators in Cologne, under the patronage of writer Ilija Trojanow.
His digital presence includes the blog brinkmann-wildgefleckt.de, dedicated to Rolf Dieter Brinkmann's life, work, and reception, and fremdworte-autorencafe.de, documenting his literary initiatives. Di Bella maintains an active role in Cologne's literary scene through regular contributions to Stadtrevue Köln and other cultural publications.
