Skip to main content
University of Regensburg
DE: diese Seite auf deutsch

Fiona O'Donnell

Fiona O'Donnell is a doctoral candidate in German language and literature at the CREG of the University of Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès, in Cotutelle, with the University of Regensburg, under the supervision of Mrs Hilda Inderwildi and Mrs Isabella von Treskow.

After her training at the ENS Lyon and a lectureship at the University of Regensburg, Fiona O'Donnell was accepted into the external agrégation for German in 2022 and was awarded a specific doctoral contract for Normaliens. Her research focuses on the reception and performativity of the grotesque.

She teaches at the University of Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès at the German language and literature department and gave a literature course as part of her Cotutelle at the Department of Romance Studies at the University of Regensburg.

Research & Dissertation

Main research areas

  • Comparative literature (German and French)
  • Productions, theatre adaptations and reinterpretations
  • Reception, theatricality and performativity of grotesque texts (theatre, short stories, romances)
  • Aesthetics, representation and techniques of the grotesque in contemporary art (performative and visual arts)

Dissertation

Title of the dissertation

The grotesque on the contemporary German stage. A history of reception in the 21st century

Year of enrolment: 2022-2023

Supervisors: Hilda Inderwildi, in cotutelle with Isabella von Treskow, University of Regensburg

Project summary

Fiona O'Donnell's dissertation lies at the interface between German language and literature, comparative literature and theatre studies. She examines the reception, theatricality and performativity of central grotesque texts by analysing contemporary productions of works by Hoffmann, Kafka, Dürrenmatt, Jarry, Ionesco and Beckett. These authors, German or French-speaking, are associated with the grotesque in research and have had a significant influence on the aesthetic development of this genre.

The research considers the grotesque both aesthetically and politically and attempts to develop an operative definition of the grotesque in its performative dimension. A central aspect is the reception: it is analysed from an aesthetic and political point of view in order to test the hypothesis that the grotesque aesthetic reflects forms of modern violence.

The scenic corpus comprises around twenty productions between 2012 and 2022, staged by around ten directors from different generations and with different conceptions of the grotesque, including Robert Wilson, Claus Peymann, Clara Weyde, Stef Lernous, Albrecht Hirche and Florian Fiedler.

Subjects taught

German / French

LLCER (L1 - L2): Translation of literary texts
LEA (L1) / Topic: Translation of press releases
LEA (L1) / Business correspondence: Writing business correspondence
LLCER (L2) / Literature and art: Fairy tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann and their reception in the visual and performative arts (19th-21st century)
LLCER (L1) / Theatre practice: Improvisation exercises and introduction to theatre practice based on excerpts from plays by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Max Frisch
French literature (proseminar): The grotesque and the theatre of the absurd

About the person

Fiona O'Donnell

Doktorandin

To top