Godelinde Gertrude Perk

snimok ekrana 2018 06 19 v 19 31 20

Senior lecturer in English Literature
Mid Sweden University,
Sundsvall

Originally hailing from the Netherlands, I received my PhD in English Literature from Umeå University, a Swedish city 300 km below the Polar Circle, with a dissertation that traced the evolution of Julian of Norwich’ literary thought.  Now employed as senior lecturer by Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall, another little known city in the north, I introduce Swedish students to the wonders of English literature and examine the intersection of northern European women’s writing, medieval literary theory, popular religion, visual and material culture, and folklore. Although starting out with Julian and Middle English, my research has since branched out to include works by Continental women, such as Devotio Moderna Sisters, Dutch anchorite Sister Bertken, and Bridget of Sweden; my research frequently juxtaposes female-authored texts in different medieval vernaculars. Parallels between medieval literature and later literature form another another area of interest, as do cognitive approaches to literature and research-by-performance explorations. At present, I am revising an article on competition in Middle Dutch Sister-Books and The Book of Margery Kempe and turning my dissertation into a book, tentatively titled Julian’s Visionary Poetics.