The research groups Translation & Intercultural Transfer and English Literature of the Faculty of Arts at KU Leuven (campuses Antwerp and Leuven) are looking for a PhD candidate to execute a four-year research project on the different roles that emerging literary artists (writers, translators, literary professionals) in Europe adopt as they make their way into the literary field. This doctoral project is one of three belonging to a large-scale research program that studies pluriactivity, digitality, and mobility as key features of the way world literature functions now.
KU Leuven is a leading research hub in the transnational study of literature and translation. It offers an exciting environment for young scholars to pursue their research in an independent way alongside the benefits of a genuinely collaborative mode of working. While this particular doctoral project is based at the university’s Antwerp campus, it is undertaken in close collaboration with researchers and supervisors based in both Antwerp and Leuven. Both cities are close to Brussels, and less than two hours from Paris, London, and Amsterdam.
Project
‘Pluriactive Literary Labor and the Infrastructures of World Literature’ is part of an encompassing research program ‘EMLIT: Pluriactivity, Digitality, Mobility, and the Emergence of World Literature.’ Funded by the KU Leuven Research Council and supervised by Núria Codina Solà, Jack McMartin, and Pieter Vermeulen, the program aims to understand how world literature is increasingly made in unstable conditions marked by pluriactive cultural labor, digital mediation, and changing mobility regimes. Theorizing contemporary world literature as a process of permanent and never fully stable emergence, EMLIT aims to generate innovative and empirically grounded insights into the aesthetic, lived, and institutional realities of contemporary world literature and its agents. Combining textual analysis with sociological and ethnographic methods, EMLIT aims to set a new theoretical and analytical standard for an inductive approach to world literature, to gather empirical data about the lived reality of literary emergence, , and to examine the main aesthetic forms this emergence takes.
The project ‘Pluriactive Literary Labor and the Infrastructures of World Literature’ investigates pluriactivity (fragmented labor arrangements across multiple professional roles and institutions) as a constitutive condition of contemporary literary activity. It examines how literary artists at work in Europe assemble viable careers through crossovers between adjacent roles, and how these shape access to resources, networks of mediation, and the production of literary value. It applies this focus in an in-depth case study of the Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA) network, which links writers and translators across 11 European countries and connects 165 “emerging” literary artists through mentorship, workshops, co-creation, and circulation-focused programming. The project will map the range of pluriactive roles and career configurations found in the network through an exhaustive survey administered to the 165 CELA participants, a role-mapping and profile typology, focus group discussions, interviews, and paired text/context analyses.
The successful candidate will undertake the following tasks:
- Complete a doctoral dissertation on CELA’s role in shaping literary careers within Europe’s multilingual, pluriactive, and increasingly digital literary ecosystem in a four-year period.
- Work together with the project’s institutional partner (CELA) and undertake occasional research trips in Europe.
- Disseminate preliminary research findings through scholarly publications in journals and edited volumes, presentations within the research group and at national and international conferences and workshops.
- Work on the Antwerp campus at least three days per week, and travel to Leuven for meetings with the rest of the EMLIT research team at least once every three weeks (a 40-minute train ride).
- Collaborate with the program’s three supervisors and two other junior researchers in the organization of workshops, conference panels, and co-publications.
- Participate in the doctoral training program.
- Devote a limited amount of time (no more than one day a week) to teaching activities or supporting assignments, and take up exam invigilator tasks.
Profile
We are looking for a candidate with the following qualifications and capacities:
- You hold an MA in Translation Studies, Literary Studies, Publishing Studies, Cultural Sociology or a comparable degree.
- You have a very high proficiency in English and multilingual skills.
- You have a passion for contemporary literature and are motivated to develop into an outstanding scholar working at the interdisciplinary intersection of translation studies and world literature.
- You are not only interested in reading and analyzing literary texts, but you are also fascinated by the social life of literature beyond the page and the lived experience of literary creators.
- You see academic scholarship not as a solitary activity but as a collaborative effort, and you are ready to play an active role in your research community.
- You have the skills to independently and self-confidently collaborate with other researchers, reach out to and maintain contact with literary artists, and liaise with professional organizations.
- You are an excellent communicator, in writing as well as in speech.
Offer
We offer a full-time doctoral fellowship for four years in an intellectually stimulating and collaborative environment. The appointment is initially for one year. Following a positive academic evaluation, this period will be extended once by an additional three years. A budget for research-related expenses (such as travel costs) is provided. More information about the application procedure, salary, and working conditions at KU Leuven can be found at https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/en/academic-staff/academic-staff-research-education-information
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. Dr. Jack McMartin ([email protected]) or Prof. Dr. Pieter Vermeulen ([email protected]).
Candidates are invited to submit their application in English, which contains:
- a cv, including a detailed list of course marks/grades of your BA and MA studies
- a letter of motivation stating your qualifications and reasons for your interest in the position
- a writing sample (published article, MA thesis chapter, ...) of no more than 20 pages
- contact information of two references (including information on relationship with the applicant)
If you are also interested in one or both of the other two doctoral positions advertised as part of the EMLIT research program, please apply to each position separately. You can (but do not have to) apply with the same letter of motivation for several positions, as long as you clearly state which of the positions holds your preference.
Interviews with shortlisted applicants are scheduled between 12 and 23 October. Shortlisted applicants will be notified by 6 October. At that point, shortlisted candidates will be asked to prepare a research proposal of some 4 pages in preparation of the interview. The start date will be determined in consultation with the successful applicant, taking into account any necessary visa and relocation arrangements. The ideal starting date is 1 January 2027.
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
