University of Gothenburg
University of Gothenburg
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Yvonne Leffler

PROFESSOR

Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and
Religion
Telephone
+46 31-786 52 94
Mail
yvonne.leffler@lir.gu.se
Visiting address
Renströmsgatan 6
412 55 Göteborg
Room number
C 653
Postal address
Box 200
40530 Göteborg

About Yvonne Leffler

 

My two main research venues have been Swedish nineteenth century novels and popular fiction respectively. I have directed several research projects and publish books on the importance of female nineteenth century writers to the evolution of the Swedish novel—e.g., Bakom maskerna. Det dolda budskapet hos kvinnliga 1880-talsförfattare (1997) and Kvinnan, kärleken och romanen (2001). In 2019 the project "Swedish Women Writers on Export in the Nineteenth Century" resulted in two books: Swedish Women's Writing on Export. Tracing Transnational Reception in the Nineteenth Century by Yvonne Leffler, Åsa Arping, Jenny Bergenmar, Gunilla Hermansson & Birgitta Johansson Lindh and The Triumph of the Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novel in Central and Eastern Europe (ed. Yvonne Leffler).

My research into popular fiction has been largely focused on Gothic literature and film in Horror as Pleasure: the Aesthetics of Horror Fiction (2000). Recently I have specialised in today's Scandinavian gothic fiction, especially the narrative and thematic function of the Nordic landscape in today's horror films and novels, for example in Nordic Gothic (2020). Within popular fiction I have also published a study on the Swedish popular writer Signe Björnberg, more commonly known as Sigge Stark, Sigge Stark. Sveriges mest produktiva, utskällda och lästa författare (2015).

Tasks

During my time as a lecturer I have been involved in the development of basic- to PhD-level courses in comparative literature, within both the teacher training and the cultural studies program. I have also developed and taught interdisciplinary courses in the areas of popular fiction, film and media. A great part of my work as a teacher has been dedicated to the supervising of students and PhD candidates in my own and other universities, both within and outside of Sweden. Within my special areas I have written the following textbooks, all of which have been published by Studentlitteratur: Skräck som fiction och underhållning (2001), Det moderna genombrottets dramer (2004) and Det moderna genombrottets prosa (2005). In 1997 I was awarded the yearly “Pedagogiska priset” by the Academy of Pedagogy at Karlstad University for being “the most instructive teacher within the educational area of Humanities and Social Science”.

Over the course of my career I have performed various managerial, investigative and analytical tasks, several of which have involved positions of trust. I was a member of Karlstad University’s Faculty Board during the years 2002-2004 and a member of the University of Gothenburg’s Faculty Board of Arts 2007-2012. At the national level I have been a permanent member of the Preparatory Working Group for Aesthetical Sciences and Arts within the Swedish Research Council and the Post doc Panel within the Research Council. I have also been an external member of the Norwegian Research Council in 2012 and the Danish Research Council in 2015. The last years, I have been engaged as an expert by several universities and Councils both in and outside Sweden.

Ongoing research

My ongoing research project is The Literary Miracle: The Transcultural Success of Swedish Nineteenth-Century Novels (Funded by the National Bank of Sweden).

In 2019 I concluded directing the research project Swedish Women Writers on Export in the 19th century, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Other scholars working within this project with different case studies were professor Gunilla Hermansson, professor Åsa Arping, Associate professor Jenny Bergenmar, and Dr Birgitta Johansson.

In 2020 I published together with Maria Holmgren Troy, Johan Höglund, and Sofia Wijkmark Nordic Gothic.