I am a literary scholar, researching primarily Black German and European literature with a special interest in poetry.
In my dissertation, entitled Afropäische Ästhetiken: Entwürfe von pluralen Schwarzen Identitäten in literarischen Texten des 21. Jahrhunderts, I examine the dominant narrative of 'Europeanness' that normalizes whiteness and leads to Black people in Europe still being marginalized and racialized as foreigners. I explore how this dominant narrative is subverted in literary texts by ten Black authors from Germany, France, and England. My dissertation will soon be published as a book.
I am currently working on another book. The anthology is titled Schwarze deutsche Literatur: Ästhetische und politische Interventionen and brings together scholarly articles, interviews, and essays. It provides an overview of Black German literature since the 1980s.
While I have already published several articles (an overview can be found on https://dartmouth.academia.edu/JeannetteOholi ), I also enjoy moving outside of academia. I have moderated several literary events and was part of the jury of the Black literature festival Resonanzen in May 2023. The festival was first held in 2022 in Recklinghausen, Germany, and was curated by Sharon Dodua Otoo. Together with Sharon Dodua Otoo and the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, I co-edited a book on Resonanzen documenting the event in 2022 entitled Resonanzen – Schwarzes Litertaurfestival. Eine Dokumentation (https://spectorbooks.com/de/buch/resonanzen-schwarzes-literaturfestival).
During my post-doc fellowship, I am starting a new research project on anti-racism and literature.