Søren Frank
Professor
Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics
Emil Holms Kanal 2, Building: 22-4-61
2300 København S
Denmark
Søren Frank works at the intersection of literary analysis, literary history, and literary theory with a primary focus on the history and theory of the novel. He is an expert in blue humanities and researches the relationship between the Anthropocene and a blue literary history.
He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Southern Denmark, has held research positions at Stanford University, and was a Senior Fellow at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturtechnikforschung und Medienphilosophie (IKKM) at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Søren Frank is a former Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Southern Denmark and was chairman of the advisory board of the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award for 12 years. He is a recipient of the Carlsberg Foundation's Semper Ardens monograph grant and a member of Academia Europaea.
In 2024, Søren Frank joined the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen as Professor of Danish and Nordic Literature.
Primary fields of research
- Literary and Cultural History of the Sea
- Literary and Cultural History of the Coast
- Migration Literature
- Border Literature
- History of the Novel
- Blue Humanities
- The Anthropocene
- New Materialism
- Ecocriticism
- Rhythmanalysis
- Theory of Place
Current research
Research projects
- PI of "The Coastal Anthropocene: Literary Visions of Past and Future Shorelines" (CoAnt), a research project funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark (2024-26).
- PL in the "Center for the Understanding of Human Relationships with Nature" (CUHRE), an elite center funded by SDU Climate Cluster (2023-2027).
Latest publications
- "Den hvide hvals hvidhed" (2023)
- "Havets og dybets kræfter i Les Travailleurs de la mer: Forvarsler om det antropocæne og Victor Hugos ambivalente antropocentrisme" (2022)
Future publications
Søren Frank is currently working on a book about the Anthropocene coast in Danish and Nordic literature and a book about the history of comparative literature.
Forthcoming are articles on Georg Brandes and world literature, inundation in Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 and Peder Frederik Jensen's Rans vilje, Johannes V. Jensen's The Long Journey as an unintended genealogy of the Anthropocene, the 1872 storm surge in Danish literature, and Cheminova in new Danish literature.
Teaching
Teaching
Søren Frank has taught a wide range of literary courses of an analytical, historical, and theoretical nature at BA and MA level. Examples of courses:
- Sea, Coast and Climate in Danish and Nordic Literature
- The Sea and the Anthropocene
- Academic Writing Workshop
- American Renaissance
- French Existentialism
- The Borders of Europe
- Literary Theory and Methodology
Supervision
He has supervised 94 BA projects, 21 Master theses, and 2 PhD dissertations (Marlene Marcussen, Comparative Literature, SDU, "Reading for Space" (2016), with Sten Moslund; Sophy Kohler, English, SDU, "Reading for Relation" (2021), with Rita Felski).
He currently supervises 1 PhD dissertation at NorS, University of Copenhagen (Tanushree Ghosh, "The Coastal Anthropocene"), and 1 PhD dissertation at Institut für Skandinavistik, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (Brandon Kaaz, "The Blue Uncanny", with Frederike Felcht).
Fields of interest
- Oceans and coasts
- Climate change
- The Anthropocene
- Johannes V. Jensen
- Georg Brandes
- Herman Melville
- Football/Soccer
Selected activities
The Coastal Anthropocene: The 1872 Storm Surge in Danish Literature
Frank, Søren (Invited speaker)
29 Jan 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
A Poetic History of the Oceans
Frank, Søren (Keynote)
26 Jan 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
Big Blue Nordic
Frank, Søren (Keynote)
17 Jan 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution
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