Metamorphosis, or bodily transformation, can be used in literature as a
way of exploring what it is to be human, what it is to change and to move
between different bodies and identities. Such changes are often
accompanied by strong emotions such as disgust and shame, emotions
directed towards one’s own identity. (I thus examine identites as ‘moving’
both physically and emotionally.)

Contemporary German literature (within the last two decades) provides a
particularly interesting framework for investigating the use of this
literary topos, given the prominance granted towards issues of identity
(personal, national and gendered) and the body in many works of this
period. Amongst others, texts by Karen Duve, Jenny Erpenbeck, Judith
Hermann and Yoko Tawada will be considered. These will be discussed in
conjunction with tales of metamorphosis from a wider literary context, key
texts being those of Ovid and Kafka as well as mythic and fairy-tale
material.

By examining representations of the body and its emotions through
narratives of fantastic transformation, the project aims to gain greater
insight into the articulation of identity in the contemporary period.
Central issues involve the impact of globalisation on experiences of
changing identities, the influence of media culture on body images, and
senses of emotional dislocation as a response to the changing self. The
project thus contributes to philosophical investigations of
‘self-conscious’ emotions as well as exploratons of the relation between
bodily affect and identity.