Literary Mediterranean Studies
Many burning issues of the present are linked to the Mediterranean region: migration from the Mediterranean countries, the North-South divide in Europe, Europe's relationship with its southern neighbors and relations with the Islamic world are among them. Mediterranean research, which is dedicated to these current, but also other, historical questions, thus makes an important contribution to the analysis of our present. In my research, I am particularly interested in the discourses associated with the Mediterranean, the ways in which migration and travel are written, the common but also heterogeneous memory of the Mediterranean, theories of memory and myths, as well as inter- and transcultural relations and the underlying cultural theories. Specific research topics include mythopoetics, Francophone literatures of North Africa, Italian and French literature and the region of Sicily. I am also interested in the theoretical and methodological reflection of the concept of "Mediterranean literature".

French and Italian Renaissances
The Renaissance period (ca. 1350-1600) is sometimes seen as a kind of 'first' Enlightenment or as the beginning of the 'modern age', i.e. it is emphasized that a first step towards modernity was already taken during this period. This is based on a teleological understanding of history, which necessarily includes a devaluation of earlier epochs, especially the Middle Ages. In contrast, in my research I emphasize the independence and alterity of the Renaissance period and devote myself in particular to the specific performativity of texts from this period, the cosmologies and anthropologies that form an important point of reference for Renaissance aesthetics and poetics. In the coming years, my research will also focus on the relationship between literature and diplomacy in the Renaissance/early modern period.

Further research interests are: Myth reception/myth theory, drama poetics, Francophonies of Africa, literature and the history of science, reception of Romance literature in German literature.