Prof. Dr. Astrid Böger
Professor for American Studies
Address
Office
Office hours
In summer term 2025, Prof. Böger is on research and will not hold regular office hours. Please contact her via e-mail.
Contact
Key aspects of activity
- Media culture and cultural studies
- Visual culture; Popular culture
- Gender studies and theories
- Transnational cultures; global culture
Academic Career
- winter semester 2018/ 19: Guest professor at the University of Wyoming
- since 2009: Full professor of American literature and culture, Universität Hamburg
- 2005-09: Associate professor of American Studies at Radboud University Nijmegen
- 2000-05: Assistant professor of American Studies, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
- 2000: Doctorate at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, with dissertation entitled People's Lives, Public Images. A Critical Study of New Deal Documentary Practices
- 1993-2000: Doctoral candidate and lecturer in American Studies
- 1993: Master's degree in American, English, and German Studies, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
- 1987-93: Study of American, English, and German literature at Universität Bremen, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf and Duke University
Academic positions and honorary offices
- Member of the Editorial Board of Amerikastudien/American Studies (since 2019)
- Member of the Academic Senate (2018-2020)
- Chairperson of the Department Language, Literature, Media II (2012-2014)
- Member of the DAAD-selection committee (North America program, since 2014)
- Liaison officer of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (2014 - 2023)
- Advisory Board Member of the German Association for American Studies (2012 - 2021)
Study and Research in the United States
| 2018 |
Guest Professor at the University of Wyoming |
|
2002-03 |
Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago |
|
1994-95 |
Studies in the Graduate Program in Literature at Duke University |
|
1990-91 |
Studies in the Graduate Program in English Literature at Duke University |
|
1984-85 |
High School Exchange Student, Indianapolis, Indiana |
Fellowships, Grants, Awards
- 2002-2003: Fulbright American Studies Fellowship awarded by the German-American Fulbright Commission
- 2001: drupa-prize sponsored by German printing industry and Messe Düsseldorf for dissertation
- 1998-2000: Dissertation writing grant, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
- 1999: Judith M. Rothchild Foundation grant for art exhibition of work of Nathan Lerner, co-curated with Roger Manley
- 1994-95: Doctoral research scholarship by the German National Scholarship Foundation
- 1990-91: Scholarship by German Academic Exchance Service for Graduate Studies in the U.S.
- 1988-95: German National Scholarship Foundation fellowship
- 1984-85: Congress-Bundestag scholarship
Research
- 19th and 20th century American Literature
- Media and Cultural Studies
- Visual Culture; Popular Culture
- Gender Studies and Theories
- Transnational Cultures; global culture
- 19th Century American World Expositions
Research projects and centres
- Member of the German Research Foundation network "Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies" (2018-2020)
- Chairperson of the "Arbeitsstelle für Graphische Literatur" (Board of Directors together with Prof. Dr. Joan Bleicher, Medienwissenschaften; please see website: https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/imk/forschung/arbeitsstellen-zentren/argl.html)
- Member of the interfaculty Research Center for Media and Communication (RCMC, please see website: http://www.rcmc-hamburg.de/)
- Member of the research association „Translating and Framing. Practices of Medial Transformations“: Link
- Medienästhetische Strategien des Rahmens und Übersetzens in Graphic Novels (until: )
- The Great American Graphic Novel (2021, with Prof. Dr. Daniel Stein/ Univ. Siegen)
Professional affiliations
- German Association for American Studies
- European Association for American Studies
- American Studies Association
- Modern Language Association
Publications
Monographs
Envisioning the Nation: The Early American World’s Fairs and the Formation of Culture (Frankfurt/M., New York: Campus Verlag, 2010).
People's Lives, Public Images: The New Deal Documentary Aesthetic. Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik 18 (Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2001).
Documenting Lives: James Agee's and Walker Evans's 'Let Us Now Praise Famous Men'. Düsseldorfer Beiträge aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik 1 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag, 1994).
Edited volumes
Astrid Böger und Florian Sedlmeier, eds. U.S. American Culture as Popular Culture. American Studies – A Monograph Series, Vol. 318. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2022.
Astrid Böger and Nicole Maruo-Schröder, eds., Envisioning Justice: Mediating the Question of Rights in American Visual Culture. A Special Issue of the European Journal of American Studies, 13.4 (2018). Link
With Christof Decker, Hrsg., Transnational Mediations. Negotiating Popular Culture between Europe and the United States. American Studies: A Monograph Series 261. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2015.
With Lars Schmeink, eds., Collision of Realities. Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2012.
With Marc Föcking, eds., James Bond – Anatomie eines Mythos. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2012.
Transatlantic Perspectives on American Visual Culture, ed. Astrid Böger and Christof Decker, Amerikastudien/American Studies 52.1 (2007).
Dialoge zwischen Amerika und Europa: Transatlantische Perspektiven in Philosophie, Literatur, Kunst und Musik, ed. Astrid Böger, Georg Schiller and Nicole Schröder. Kultur und Erkenntnis 33 (Tübingen und Basel: A. Francke Verlag, 2007).
FrauenKulturStudien. Weiblichkeitsdiskurse in Literatur, Philosophie und Sprache, ed. Astrid Böger and Herwig Friedl. Kultur und Erkenntnis 26 (Tübingen und Basel: A. Francke Verlag, 2000).
Scholarly articles
“‘Great‘ American Graphic Novels: Canon Formation and Literary Value.” In: Jan Baetens et al., eds. The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023, 89-105 (with Daniel Stein).
“U.S. American Poetry in the Digital Age: Participation, Performance, Protest.” In: M.E. Korecka and W. Vorrath, eds., Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture/ Lyrik und zeitgenössische Visuelle Kultur. Berlin, Boston: DeGruyter, 2023, 105-120.
“For the Birds: Nell Zink’s and Jonathan Franzen’s Environmentalist Fiction”, in: Jolene Mathieson, Marius Henderson, and Julia Lange, eds. The Public Mind and the Politics of Postmillennial U.S.-American Writing. Anglia Book Series, Volume 79. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2022. pp. 147-157.
"Im Kopf der Freiheitsstatue," in: Was Denkt das Denkmal? Eine Anthologie Zur Denkmalkultur. Eds. Tanja Schult and Julia Lange. Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 2021. 141-147.
"Life Writing", in: Handbook of Comics and Graphic Narratives. Eds. Sebastian Domsch, Dan Hassler-Forest and Dirk Vanderbeke. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2021. pp. 201-218.
"'Things Are Different Now': Re-Framing Australian Identity in Pat Grant's Blue", in: Johannes C.P. Schmid and Christian A. Bachmann, eds., Framing [In] Comics and Cartoons. Essays on Aesthetics, History, and Mediality. Berlin: Christian A. Bachmann Verlag, 2021. 111-121.
“American Realism and Photography”, in: Keith Newlin, ed., The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Realism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. 553-565.
„Shaun Tans The Arrival und die Kunst visueller Assoziation”, in: Andrea Sabisch and Manuel Zahn, Ed., Visuelle Assoziationen. Bildkonstellationen und Denkbewegungen in Kunst, Philosophie und Wissenschaft. Hamburg: Textem Verlag, 2018, 280-293.
„Transnational Graphic Narratives from Down Under”, in: Daniel Stein, Lukas Etter and Michael Chaney, Ed., Transnational Graphic Narrative. International Journal of Comic Art, vol. 20, No. 1 (2018): 43-64.
„Kreative Zwischenräume. Medienästhetische Strategien des Rahmens und Übersetzens in Graphic Novels“, in: Claudia Benthien, Gabriele Klein, eds., Übersetzen und Rahmen. Praktiken medialer Transformationen. Paderborn:Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2017, 75-87.
„Revisiting Past Futures at the New York World’s Fair (1939-1940)“, in: Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Florian Freitag, Sabrina Mittermeier, Ariane Schwarz, eds., Time and Temporality in Theme Parks. Hannover: Wehrhahn Verlag, 2017, 189-200.
„‘I look and sometimes I see“: The Art of Perception in Siri Hustvedt’s Novels“, in: Johanna Hartmann, Christine Marks, Hubert Zapf, eds., Zones of Focused Ambiguity in Siri Hustvedt’s Works. Interdisciplinary Essays. Anglia Book Series 52. Berlin, Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2016, 281-293.
"Transnational Exposure: The Family of Man and the Emergence of Global Photography", in: Christof Decker, Astrid Böger (eds.), Transnational Mediations. Negotiating Popular Culture between Europe and the United States. American Studies: A Monograph Series 261. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2015, 57-71.
„Twentieth Century American Literature and Photography“, in: Gabriele Rippl (ed.), Handbook of Intermediality. Literature – Image – Sound – Music. Handbooks of English and American Studies 1. Berlin, Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2015. 173-192.
„Grafische Literatur (A. Bechdel: Fun Home und D. Small: Stitches)“, in: Claudia Benthien and Brigitte Weingart (eds.), Handbuch Literatur & Visuelle Kultur. Handbücher zur Kulturwissenschaftlichen Philologie 1. Berlin, Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2014. 544-560.
„On-Site Disaster: Exposing Calamity in Twentieth-Century Art Photography“, in: Ingrid Gessner and Susanne Leikam (eds.), Iconographies of the Calamitous in American Visual Culture. Amerikastudien/American Studies 58.4 (2013): 607-624.
„Zum Sterben schön: Das Bond-Girl als modische Projektionsfläche.“ In: Marc Föcking and Astrid Böger, eds., James Bond – Anatomie eines Mythos. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter (2012), pp. 169-184.
“Envisioning Race and Ethnicity: Spectacles of Otherness at the Early American World’s Fairs.” In: Volker Depkat and Meike Zwingenberger, eds., Visual Cultures – Transatlantic Perspectives. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter (2012), pp. 107-125.
„Conquering Silence: David Small’s Stitches and the Art of Getting Better.” In: American Comic Books and Graphic Novels. A Special Issue of Amerikastudien/American Studies 56.4 (2011), pp. 603-616.
„New Directions in the American Short Story after 9/11: Don DeLillo’s ‘Baader-Meinhof’ and Nicole Krauss’s ‘Future Emergencies’”. In: Michael Basseler and Ansgar Nünning, Eds., A History of the American Short Story: Genres – Developments – Model Interpretations. WVT-Handbücher zum Literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium 14 (Trier: WVT 2011), 413-426.
"Die Amerikanische Fotografie." In: Christof Decker (ed.), Visuelle Kulturen der USA. Zur Geschichte von Malerei, Fotografie, Film, Fernsehen und Neuen Medien in Amerika. (Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2010). 99-159.
„(Re-)Visions of Progress: Chicago’s World’s Fairs as Sites of Transnational American Memory”, Transnational American Memories, ed. Udo Hebel (Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009), 311-331.
„Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904“, Encyclopedia of World’s Fairs and Expositions, ed. John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Press, 2008), 171-178.
„Die Foto-Kampagnen der Farm Security Administration“, Kunst und Propaganda im Streit der Nationen 1930-1945. Exhibition catalogue, German Historical Museum Berlin (Dresden: Sandstein Verlag, 2007), 366-373.
„Facing Depression in 20th Century American Photography“, Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik. A Quarterly of Language, Literature and Culture 54.3 (2006): 265-285.
„The Princess Rajah Dance and the Popular Fascination with Middle Eastern Culture at the St. Louis World's Fair (1904)”,Americaand the Orient, ed. Heike Schäfer. American Studies: A Monograph Series 130 (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2006), 203-216.
„'It's Adventure-Time': Beobachtungen zu den Hollywood-Heldinnen der Gegenwart“, Grenz-Gänge. Studien zu Gender und Raum, ed. Nicole Schröder and Herwig Friedl. Kultur und Erkenntnis 32 (Tübingen and Basel: A. Francke Verlag, 2006), 183-195.
„Die Zukunft der Vergangenheit: General Motors' Futurama im Kontext urbanistischer Modelle“, Building America – die Erschaffung einer neuen Welt, ed. Anna Minta, Anke Köth and Andreas Schwarting (Dresden: Thelem, 2005), 285-301.
„Envisioning Progress at Chicago's White City“, From Landscape to Technoscape: Contestations of Space in American Culture, ed. Klaus Benesch and Kerstin Schmidt. Architecture-Technology-Culture 1 (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005), 265-284.
„Making The Best of It. American Short Stories after 9/11“, Twenty-First Century Fiction: Essays, Readings, Conversations, ed. Christoph Ribbat. Anglistik & englischunterricht 66 (Heidelberg: Winter Verlag, 2005), 93-107.
„Revisiting the American World's Fairs“, Visual Culture in the American Studies Classroom: Proceedings of the U.S. Embassy Teacher Academy 2003, ed. Udo Hebel and Martina Kohl (Wien: U.S. Department of State, 2005), 103-125.
„So Much Has Been Affected“, The United States in Global Contexts: American Studies after 9/11 and Iraq, ed. Walter Grünzweig (Münster: Lit-Verlag, 2004), 16.
„Looking for the White City“, The Funnel 40 (Nr. 40, Winter 2003), 14.
„Conflicting Visions of Progress in Robert Flaherty's The Land“, Millennial Perspectives. Lifeworlds and Utopias, ed. Brigitte Georgi-Findlay and Hans-Ulrich Mohr, American Studies: A Monograph Series 102 (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, 2003), 197-209.
„Feminale Special: Working Single Girls – auf der Suche nach Mr. Right“, StadtRevue 10 (Oktober 2002), 24-26.
„Another (Hi)Story Altogether: Paula A. Vogel's Meg“, More & More. Festschrift für Hubertus Schulte-Herbrüggen, ed. Karl-Friedrich Unterweg and Christoph Peters (Peter Lang Verlag, 2002), 405-412.
„'Here's Looking at You, Kid': Ein Rück-Blick auf Hollywoods klassische Schlußszenen“, FrauenKulturStudien. Weiblichkeitsdiskurse in Literatur, Philosophie und Sprache, ed. Astrid Böger and Herwig Friedl (Tübingen und Basel: A. Francke Verlag, 2000), 45-59.
„'A Girl in Boy's Clothes': Der offene Kleiderschrank im amerikanischen Roman des 19. Jahrhunderts“, Der einsame Held, ed. Wilhelm G. Busse and Olaf Templin. Kultur und Erkenntnis 23 (Tübingen und Basel, A. Francke Verlag, 2000), 159-171.
„Making the World a better Place to Live“, Modernist Eye: The Art and Design of Nathan Lerner (Raleigh: The Gallery of Art and Design, North Carolina State University, 2000), 5-13.
„People's Lives and Public Images: The Politics of New Deal Representations“, East-West-Conference. Proceedings of an Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium held in 1998 at Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, ed. Christa Buschendorf (Frankfurt: Zentrum für Nordamerikastudien, 2000), 92-108.
„A Call for Chaos: On Media/Violence“, Memory, History, and Critique: Proceedings of the 1996 Conference of ISSEI (International Society for the Study of European Ideas) held at Utrecht, Netherlands, August 19-24, 1996. MIT Press (CD-Rom), 1997.
Reviews
Gerd Hurm, Anke Reitz, and Shannon Zamir, eds., The Family of Man Revisited: Photography in a Global Age (London and New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., 2018). In: Amerikastudien/American Studies 64.1 (2019), 148-150. Link
Sara Blair, Joseph B. Entlin, and Franny Nudelman, eds., Remaking Reality. U.S. Documentary Culture After 1945 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2018). In: American Literary History Online Review, Series XXV (2020), 1-3. Link
Julia Faisst, Cultures of Emancipation: Photography, Race, and Modern American Literature. Kritikon Litterarum 42.3/4 (2015), 285-288.
Ulfried Reichardt, ed., Vermessung der Globalisierung: Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven. American Studies: A Monograph Series162 (Heidelberg:Winter, 2008), in: Anglistik 20.2 (2009), 223-226.
Ulla Haselstein, Berndt Ostendorf, Peter Schneck, eds., Iconographies of Power. The Politics and Poetics of Visual Representation, American Studies: A Monograph Series 108 (Heidelberg: Winter, 2003), in: Amerikastudien/American Studies: A Quarterly Vol. 51, Nr. 2 (2006), 257-259.
Udo Hebel, ed., Sites of Memory in American Literatures and Cultures, American Studies: A Monograph Series 101 (Heidelberg: Winter, 2003), in: Amerikastudien/American Studies: A Quarterly Vol. 50, Nr. 1-2 (2005), 316-318.
Brenda Hollweg, Ausgestellte Welt. Formationsprozesse kultureller Identität in den Texten zur Chicago World's Columbian Exposition (1893), in: Amerikastudien/ American Studies 49, Nr. 3 (2004), 449-450.
Recent Lectures
"The Remains of a Day: The Visual Fallout of September 11, 2001". Lecture on September 10, 2021, at the online conference "911. Twenty Years On" (Europa-Universität Flensburg, organization of the conference: Prof. Dr. Birgit Däwes)