Silke Felber

Silke Felber is a Professor of the History of Knowledge – Knowledge of the Senses at the University of Arts Linz's Department of Cultural Studies (Institute of Fine Arts and Cultural Studies). Her work bridges Theatre, Cultural, Media, and Literary Studies, focusing on sensory hierarchies, performative performativity of smell, and critical analyses of colonial and ecological implications in art. She leads the ERC-funded OLFAC project (2024-2029) on olfactormativity and co-edits the journal ephemer. Previously, she held visiting professorships at Freie Universität Berlin and fellowships at Oxford, Ghent, and the University of Vienna. Her awards include the ERC Consolidator Grant, FWF Elise Richter Award, and Mercator Fellowship. Felber's research spans ephemeral arts, paratragic aesthetics, and Austrian performing arts, with a focus on gendering political stagings and sensory knowledge production.

Her research projects include Performing Gender in View of the Outbreak (FWF, 2021-2025) and Intervening (with) Smells (Mercator Foundation, 2023). Key publications include Travelling Gestures: Elfriede Jelineks Theater der (Tragödien-) Durchquerung (2023) and articles redefining tragic figurations and migration discourses. Felber's work critically examines boundaries between human and non-human, exploring liminal spaces through interdisciplinary lenses.