Dr Denise Henschel

About

Dr Henschel holds a PhD in German Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a BA and MA in German Literature and Language from Freie Universität Berlin. Dr Henschel has previously taught literature, film, and German language at the University of Cambridge, the University of Warwick, and Cardiff University.

Research Interests

Dr Henschel’s research specialisation lies in literature, film and visual culture from the German-speaking world, with a particular focus on gender and queer theory, aesthetic theory, neuroqueer theory, and disability studies.

Dr Henschel’s current research project, titled ‘Towards a Neuroqueer Aesthetic: Interrogating Neurotypicality in the German Aesthetic Tradition’, addresses a significant gap in aesthetic theory by examining how German aesthetic philosophy, in its foundations, has constituted neurotypicality as the norm of perception. Through analyses of literature, film and visual culture from the 19^th-century to the present, the project further shows how works of art produce a ‘neuroqueer aesthetics’ that challenges these foundations. By demonstrating how cultural forms can transform medicalised models that marginalise neuroqueerness, the project moves away from pathologising approaches toward recognition of diversity of perception, ultimately contributing to the promotion of a neurodiverse sense of the world.

Dr Henschel’s doctoral research examined how 21^st-century German-language literature and film constitute kinship as a contested field of social relations. Through queer theoretical analysis of the family, non/human relations, and queer and trans* ecologies, the project investigated how aesthetic practices negotiate and reimagine normative societal formations. This project developed the concept of ästhetisches Eigenwissen to theorise the intrinsically transformative potential of works of art to instantiate new forms of being-in and knowing-of the world. The project thus contributes to discussions of how aesthetic forms engage with societal transformations in the contemporary moment. Dr Henschel is currently preparing a revised version of the doctoral dissertation for publication under the title New Forms of Kinship: Queerness and Aesthetics in Contemporary Literature and Film from the German-Speaking World.

Qualifications

PhD German Studies (University of Cambridge)

M.A. German Literature (Free University Berlin)

B.A. German Literature and Language (Free University Berlin)