Aleksandra Dębińska
Aleksandra Dębińska
Aleksandra Dębińska, PhD candidate in literary studies at the University of Silesia
Hi, I'm Aleksandra, this year's Polish voice at the Wirth Institute. I'm a PhD student in literary studies from the University of Silesia in Katowice and I spend a lot of time in libraries and archives, which is extremely pleasant work, but not for someone with a dust allergy. I also defended my master's thesis at the same university. Later, I did postgraduate gender studies at the IBL in Warsaw.
When I graduated from Polish philology a few years ago, I was intrigued by queer and gender studies, especially critical studies on men and masculinity. My love of twentieth-century literature and my childhood fascination with the military led to the idea for a PhD on the figures of disabled veterans in Polish literature of the interwar period. I don't want to sound like an activist here, but I am convinced that this is a very relevant topic, even when we think about the condition of contemporary men... In my dissertation, I therefore combine research on military masculinity with disability studies. Undoubtedly, these are research tools that are completely capable of changing the view of the world! In my dissertation, I want to show what the life of Polish veterans in the Second Polish Republic was like, what problems they struggled with and what their literary representation was like.
Additionally, I teach the Polish language to foreigners. For the last five years I have had lessons with students from all over the world, which is a very big advantage of my job. It's really developing.
Privately... I read a lot. But that's not all. I'm a big fan of old horror movies, tattoos and Japan. I can't imagine a morning without coffee, because as someone who functions at night, getting up early is quite difficult… That's why I'm sometimes quiet in the office at 9:00 :-).
Contact
E-mail: debinska@ualberta.caAddress:
University of Alberta
Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies
300-F
Arts & Convocation Hall
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6G 2E6