Dr. Christian Lenz
Dr Christian Lenz has been working at TU Dortmund University since 2008 in the departments of British Literary Studies and British Cultural Studies. He has written his dissertation on the geographical implications of romance in contemporary chick- and ladlit novels from England, India and Australia, entitled Geographies of Love.
Since then he has broadened his focus and his current research project is about cultural represenations of the jungle in multiple media (literature, film, TV, video games and board games). Additionally, he researches youth culture, horror litertaure, as well as erotic and sexual fiction about which he has given interviews for newspapers and radio stations. He organises conferences and is part of the Space Collective.
- Cultural Geography
- Jungle Narratives
- Erotic and Sexual Literature
- Depictions of Horror
- Young Adult Literature
Current projects
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Narrating and Constructing the Jungle in Literature, Film/TV, Games
Monographs / Textbooks:
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Geographies of Love. The Cultural Spaces of Romance in Chick- and Ladlit.
(2016). Bielefeld: Transcript.
www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-3441-9/geographies-of-love
Edited Volumes:
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Cases of Intervention. The Great Variety of Cultural Studies.
Marie Hologa, Christian Lenz, Cyprian Piskurek and Stefan Schlensag (eds.).
Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Articles:
“Erotische Identitäten, weibliche Lust und fragmentierte Körper”
In: Norbert Lennartz und Jonas Nesselhauf (eds.): Ästhetik(en) der Pornographie. Darstellungen von Sexualitäten im Medienvergleich. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2021.
“Toying with Monsters: Mash-ups, Remixes, and Mattel’s Monster High”
In: Ute Berns and Jolene Mathieson (eds.) Anglistentag. 2016 Hamburg. Vol 38. 2017. 45-56.
“Allein, Geil und (Un-)Beobachtet. Pornographische Raumkonstellationen”
In: Daniel Schulze, Andrea Stiebritz (eds.) Kulturen der Pornographie. Annäherungen an ein Massenphänomen. Trier: WVT. 161-173.
“‘A bit like family:’ The Urban Family as Community in Chick- and Ladlit”
In: Rüdiger Ahrens, Heinz Antor; Stella Butter, Sarah Heinz (eds.) Anglistik. International Journal of English Studies. Vol 26, No. 1. 2015. 45-54.
“Fulfilling Desires –The Spatial Problems of Disney Princesses and Why Their Husbands-To-Be Are So Much Better Off”
In: Laura Muth and Annette Simonis (eds.) Weltentwürfe des Fantastischen. Erzählen – Schreiben – Spielen. (2014) Berlin: Christian A. Bachmann Verlag. 102-113.
“Places, Spaces and Bridget Jones”
In: Marie Hologa, Christian Lenz, Cyprian Piskurek and Stefan Schlensag (eds.) Cases of Intervention. The Great Variety of Cultural Studies. (2013) Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 123-141.
“Let Love Lead the Way: Spatial Compatibility and Territories of Love in Chick- and Ladlit”
In: Brooke L. Rogers and Anna Sugiyama (eds.). Space and Place: Diversity in Reality, Imagination and Representation. (2013) Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press. 199-210.
“Excuse Me, Has This Life Been Taken? Zombies, Hoodies and Permissible Killing in Contemporary British Horror Cinema”
In: Anette Pankratz and Claus-Ulrich Viol (eds.) Journal for the Study of British Cultures, Vol. 18, No 2/2011. (2012) Tübingen: Narr. 163-173.
“Love Your Zombie: Romancing the Un-Dead”
In: Lars Schmeink, Astrid Böger (eds.) Collision of Realities. Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe. (2012) Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 103-117.
“‘Death Becomes Her’: Representations of Death, Afterlife and God in American TV-Series”
In: Kornelia Freitag (ed.) Apocalypse Soon? Religion and Popular Culture in the United States. (2011) Wien: LitVerlag GmbH. 63-71.
“Vom Mini zum Mini. Eine Podiumsdiskussion”
In: Jürgen Kramer, Anette Pankratz, Claus-Ulrich Viol (eds.) Mini & Mini. Ikonen der Popkultur zwischen Dekonstruktion und Rekonstruktion. (2009) Bielefeld: Transcript. 143-150.
“Bonds (imperiale) Männlichkeit im Wandel der Zeit” – mit Florian Gerhardt
In: Ellen Grünkemeier, Martina Iske, Jürgen Kramer, Anette Pankratz, Claus-Ulrich Viol (eds.) Das kleine Bond-Buch. From Cultural Studies
With Love. (2007) Marburg: Schüren. 113-120.
“Warum auf Bond warten? Eine strukturalistische Prognose des kommenden Films”
In: Ellen Grünkemeier, Martina Iske, Jürgen Kramer, Anette Pankratz, Claus-Ulrich Viol (eds.) Das kleine Bond-Buch. From Cultural Studies
With Love. (2007) Marburg: Schüren. 92-103.
(with Sarah Neef) “Mapping the Gendered Body: Women, Geography, and how Both are Transformed in British Literature.”
Transformations between the Written, the Visual and the Auditory; Dortmund, Deutschland; 26.04.2021
“Gay Hunting Grounds -Virtual Spaces and Reductive Identities of Homosexual Men in Metropolitan Areas”
Metropolitan Masculinities; Bochum, Deutschland; 29.11. – 30.11.2019
“Fighting the Hydra – All That Is Wrong with Neo-Mythological Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”
Annual Conference of the Association for Research in the Fantastic; Berlin, Deutschland; 18.09. – 21.09.2019
“Americans Abroad vs Abnormal Animals – Eco-critically Reading of the Jungle in Hollywood Nature Revenge Movies”
International American Studies Association World Congress; Madrid, Spanien; 08.07. – 10.07.2019
“The Shirtless Montage. Stripping Cultural Layers Off Teen Wolf.”
Annual Conference of the Association for Research in the Fantastic; Wien, Österreich; 20.09. – 23.09.2017
“Darkness in Pornotopia. The Raped Body at the Contested Threshold between Fantasy and Reality”
Political Bodies. Annual Conference of the German Association of the Study of British Cultures; Dortmund, Deutschland;
23.11.–25.11.2017
Mittwochs im GIUB: Pornotopia – Raum für Sex
Feminist Geographers’ Lecture Series; Universität Bonn, 2017
“Gazing at Gay Guys, or How to See ‘Reality’ and Accepting It, Too”
115th Annual Conference Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association; Honolulu, Hawaii; 10.11.–12.11.2017
“Toying with Monsters: Mash-ups, Remixes, and Mattel’s Monster High”
Anglistentag 2016; Hamburg, Deutschland; 21.09. – 24.09.2016
“Celebrating Communities and Cyber Cities, or How Spatial Practices Have Changed Queer Lives in the 21st Century”
Proud in Europe? LGBTI Emancipation in Comparative Perspective; Amsterdam, Niederlande; 04.08.–05.08.2016
“The Spaces In-Between: Exploring the Quasi-Magical in the Young Adult Novels by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan”
Space Oddities: Urbanity, American Identity, and Cultural Exchange – Annual AAAS Conference; Graz, Österreich; 21.11.–23.11.2014
“Fulfilling Desires –The Spatial Problems of Disney Princesses and Why Their Husbands-To-Be Are So Much Better Off”
Annual Conference of the Association for Research in the Fantastic; Wetzlar, Deutschland; 26.09 – 29.09.2013
“‘A bit like family:’ The Urban Family as Community in Chick- and Ladlit”
Come Together? Concepts of Community in Contemporary British and Irish Literature and Culture; Mannheim, Deutschland;
31.05. – 01.06.2013
“‘You can be so much better’. Deviant Ideology in TV Series Misfits”
Annual Conference of the Association for the Research of the Fantastic; Zürich, Schweiz; 13.-16.09.2012
“Im Auge des Betrachters – Die Royals im Fokus von Fans und Kameras”
Kronzeugen (The British Royal Family); Bochum, Deutschland; 20.-21.01.2012
“Let Love Lead the Way: Spatial Compatibility and Territories of Love in Chick- and Ladlit”
2nd Global Conference Space and Place; Prag, Tschechische Republik; 06.11 – 08.11.2011
“‘Never to Return Home’: Nomadic Tendencies and the Notion of Home in Dead Set”
Argh! Brains! Blood! Argh! Zombosium! A Symposium on Zombies; Winchester, Vereinigtes Königreich; 28.10.2011
“Excuse Me, Has This Life Been Taken? Zombies, Hoodies and Permissible Killing in Contemporary British Horror Cinema”
Birth and Death. Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures; Bochum, Deutschland;
18.11 – 20.11.2010
“Love Your Zombie: Romancing the Un-Dead”
Strange Worlds: Paths and Spaces of the Fantastic in the 21st Century; Hamburg, Deutschland 30.09 – 03.10.2010
“Vom Mini zum Mini. Eine Podiumsdiskussion”
Mini meets Mini. Kultur der Sechziger zwischen Mode und Mobilität; Bochum, Deutschland; 23.01 – 24.01.2009
“The Sita-Syndrome – Hybridity and Cultural Spaciousness in Meera Syal’s Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee”
Contact Zones in Modern British Culture; Konstanz, Deutschland; 05.-06.02.2009
“Warum auf Bond warten? Eine strukturalistische Prognose des
kommenden Films”
Warten auf Bond; Bochum, Deutschland; 27. – 28.10.2006 2006
Introductions
- Introduction to British Literary Studies | Literaturtheorie und -kritik, Epochenüberblick (Renaissance bis Gegenwart), Genre Poetik, Textanalyse und -interpretation, akademisches Arbeiten; Auswahl: W. Shakespeare, G. Herbert, W. Wordsworth, O. Wilde, K. Mansfield, V. Woolf, S. Kane, P. Simmonds, E. Waugh, E. McEwan, Z. Smith.
- Introduction to British Cultural Studies | Kulturtheorien, Epochenüberblick (Renaissance bis Gegenwart), Textanalyse und -interpretation, akademisches Arbeiten; Auswahl: historisches Kulturverständnis, Identitätskonstruktionen, Kulturgeographie, kritisches Betrachten von Geschichtsschreibung, Repräsentationen.
- Introduction to Postcolonial Studies | Postkolonialismus, Historischer Überblick (Mittelalter bis Gegenwart), Hybridität; Themen: Karibik, Indien, Australien und Neuseeland, Südafrika, „Black Britain“.
Proseminars
- Are You Scared Yet? British Horror | Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Altersfreigaben in Filmen; Auswahl: Dracula, 28 Days Later, The Company of Wolves, The Forbidden, Eden Lake, Coraline.
- The Beach | Gender, Kulturgeographie, Strukturalismus; Auswahl: On Chesil Beach, Y Tu Mamá También, Rough Music, The Beach, Baywatch.
- Boys in the Wilderness | Literaturtheorien, Gender, Jugendliteratur, Spätviktorianisches und Edwardianisches Zeitalter, Kulturgeographie; The Jungle Books, Peter Pan, Tarzan of the Apes, Treasure Island.
- Chicks vs. Lads | Genre Poetik, Gender, Adaptionstheorie; Bridget Jones’s Diary, Almost Single, Mr Commitment.
- I Need a Hero – British Heroes and Heroines | Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Campbells Monomyth, Strukturalismus; Auswahl: Braveheart, James Bond, Tony Blair.
- James Bond | Gender, Kulturgeographie, Psychoanalyse, Adaptionstheorie, Filmanalyse; Auswahl: diverse James Bond Filme, Casino Royale (Roman)
- London Calling – Depictions and Images of London in Literature, Music and Film | Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Kulturgeographie; Auswahl: Samuel Pepys (Tagebuch), Oliver Twist, Vanity Fair, Love Actually, Jugendgangs, War of the Worlds, Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee.
- Men in Crisis | Gender, Postmoderne, Identitätskonstruktion; Auswahl: Ours Are the Streets, Remainder, Dead Europe, Starred Up.
- Pirates and Mermaids | Gender, Legendenbildung, Repräsentation; Auswahl: Treasure Island, Peter and Wendy, Ondine, The Little Mermaid, Song of the Sea.
- Wales – It’s Not All About Leeks | Historischer Überblick (Mittelalter bis Gegenwart), Kulturgeographie, Sprache und Identität; Auswahl: Mabinogion, Tourism, Not Quite White, Y Gwyll, Pride, Under Milk Wood, Pink Mist.
- Welcome to the Jungle | Genre Poetik, Spätviktorianisches Zeitalter, Kolonialisierung Indiens; Rudyard Kiplings First and Second Jungle Books.
- Yoof Culcha! | Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Identitätskonstruktion, historischer Hintergrund; Auswahl: Jugend und Technologie, Subkulturen, Death of a Superhero, Skins, Misfits, Queere Jugendliche.
Advanced Courses
- A History of Pleasure and Perversion | Historischer Überblick (Mittelalter bis Gegenwart), Kulturtheorien, Sexual Scripts, Psychoanalyse; Auswahl: As You Like It, Onania, Hysterie, Swinging Sixties, Kelly + Victor (mit Gespräch des Autors, Niall Griffiths), Location-Based Dating Apps, Internetdating.
- British Explorers | Kulturgeographie, Kolonialismus, Gender; Auswahl: The Lost City of Z (Col. Percy Fawcett), Queen of the Desert (Gertrude Bell), Lawrence of Arabia (Thomas Lawrence), The Birthday Boys (Robert F. Scott), Jane (Jane Goodall)
- Cultural Geography | Kulturgeographie, Territorialisierungsstrategien, Körpergeographie, Geopolitik, Jugendgeographien; Auswahl: Kartographie, Devolution, James Bond, Photographie, Clubs, Olympiade 2012, Raumverständnis mit Behinderung.
- Imperial Monsters | Genre Poetik, Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Kolonialismus, Viktorianisches Zeitalter, Adaptionstheorie, Postmoderne; King Solomon’s Mines, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Dracula, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
- Literary Islands | Kulturgeographie, Literatur- und Kulturtheorien, Poststrukturalismus, historische Epochen; Auswahl: Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Lord of the Flies, The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society, Tourismus, Mahu Blood.
- Running Wild: The Jungle in Literature and Culture Aimed at Children | Kulturgeographie, Repräsentation, Gender, Postkolonialismus; Auswahl: Bear Gryll’s Adventures, Running Wild, The Journey to the River Sea, The Explorer.
- Spilling Ink – Writing the Erotic | Historischer Überblick (Frühviktorianisch bis Gegenwart), Narratologie, Figurenkonstruktion, kreative Schreibübungen, Genre Poetik: Erotika und Pornographie; Auswahl: The Lustful Turk, The Sins of the Cities of the Plain, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
- Teaching India | Didaktik, historischer Hintergrund, Gender; Auswahl: Slumdog Millionaire, Q&A, The Night Diary, Mahatma Gandhi, Sita Sings the Blues, Pad Man.
- Villains | Psychoanalyse, Philosophie, Gender; Auswahl: Richard III, Posh, Dracula, The School for Good and Evil: A World Without Princes, Bad Day in Black Rock.
- Welcome to the Jungle: Narrating and Constructing the Jungle | Ecocriticism, Kulturgeographie, Geopolitik, Gender; Auswahl: Land of Hidden Men, Tarzan, Anaconda, Madness Is Better Than Defeat, El Abrazo de la Serpiente, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
- Young Adult Fiction | Genre Poetik, Gender, Jugendkultur, Marketing, Narratologie; Auswahl: Six Impossible Things, Monster High Fashion Dolls, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, TransMission: My Quest to a Beard, I Am Thunder, This Is Not a Love Story.
Project Courses
- NY-LON | Transkulturalität, Einführung in textspezifische Theorien, akademisches Arbeiten, Präsentationsmethoden, kreatives Schreiben, Evaluation, Teamwork; Themen: Horror, Subversive Texte, Märchen, Romantische Komödien, Helden und Superhelden, Dating.
- Projektseminar | diverse Theoriegrundlagen, Projektplanung, Präsentationsmethoden, Evaluation; Themen: Spektakel, Technologie.
EASCLE - European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and Environment
Deutscher Anglistenverband e.V.
German Association for the Study of British Cultures
Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung e.V.