PhD Position in Japanese Literature

One Doctoral Researcher Position in Japanese Literature

The “Modernizing Empires: Enlightenment, Nationalist Vanguards and Non-Western Literary Modernities” (NONWESTLIT) Project, funded by the European Research Council, will hire one fully funded doctoral researcher with living allowance in 19^th century Japanese literature and culture.

The project is a comparative study of cultural reforms, linguistic renewal and literary renaissance movements in three imperial traditions, Russia, Turkey and Japan. The project is hosted by the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LILEC) at the University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna).

Doctoral Position

The financing body: the European Research Council for the project StG 950513 NONWESTLIT, “Modernizing Empires: Enlightenment, Nationalist Vanguards and Non-Western Literary Modernities”

The student profile:

- MA in Literary Studies, Japanese Studies or a related field in literary or cultural studies.

- Languages: excellent command of English and Japanese (preferably, native or near-native Japanese fluency) is required, familiarity with 19th century Japanese orthography a plus. The interview will be mainly in English, the level of knowledge of Japanese will also be assessed. Knowledge of Italian is not required for applying for the position, but the candidate is expected to develop their skills in Italian in the first year.

- Research Theme: The ERC project is a comparative study of cultural reforms, linguistic renewal and literary renaissance movements in three imperial traditions, Russia, Ottoman Turkey and Japan. The candidate is expected to work on the nineteenth century literature and culture in Japan in a comparative perspective within the scope of the research project. They will have co-responsibility in the collection of data and their analysis, and in research administration. For their applications, they will produce an original proposal that falls within the scope of the project. The proposal may focus on one of the following: 19^th century Japanese periodicals and print culture, 19^th century Japanese fiction, questions of translation in the same period in Japan.

Please see the open call and the project website for more details. The deadline for applications is June 17, 2024 at 11:59 PM. For enquiries, please contact the PI, Assoc. Prof. Dolcerocca via email: ozen.dolcerocca@unibo.it. Please follow the UniBo the doctoral call website for the dates of the admissions exams. You will not receive an email notification for the interview dates. Interviews will start on 03/07/2024 – 9.30 a.m. CEST. Candidates who will join online are required to indicate it at the bottom of the Personal Statement.