Britta Kallin
Associate Chair, Director of German Program, Associate Professor of German
- School of Modern Languages
- ADVANCE IAC
Overview
Dr. Britta Kallin received her PhD in German Literature from the University of Cincinnati (2000) and she joined the School of Modern Languages faculty at Georgia Tech as Assistant Professor of German in the same year. She had previously taught three summers of intensive German in the Middlebury College Summer School in Vermont. Since 2008, Dr. Kallin serves as Associate Professor of German in the School of Modern Languages.
A specialist in contemporary German and Austrian women's literature and theater, she has published on theater, gender, race, and national identity in Colloquia Germania, Communications from the International Brecht Society, The German Quarterly, Glossen: Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern, Lessing Yearbook, New German Review, Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies, Journal of Austrian Studies, Monatshefte, among others.
Dr. Kallin has published widely on the Austrian Nobel Laureate Elfriede Jelinek and is the author of “Jörg Haider as a Contemporary Orestes: Aeschylus’s Oresteia in Elfriede Jelinek’s Das Lebewohl” (Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies), "The Role of the Roma in Elfriede Jelinek's Stecken, Stab und Stangl?" (Colloquia Germanica 2004) and "Die Feder fuehr ich unermuedlich - Helmina von Chezy's Rosamunde as Intertext in Elfriede Jelinek's Der Tod und das Maedchen III (Rosamunde) (Glossen 2007). In addition, she has published “Elfriede Jelineks Solidaritätsbekundungen: Die Parteimitgliedschaft in der KPÖ, ihr marxistischer, feministischer und politischer Einsatz für verfolgte KünstlerInnen und ihr Engagement gegen totalitäre Strukturen.” (Jelinek Research Center 2013); "Amerikanisch-österreichische Intertextualitäten und schreibende Frauen in Jelineks Der Tod und das Mädchen IV (Jackie) und Der Tod und das Mädchen V (Die Wand).” (JELINEK (JAHR)BUCH, 2017); “Intertextualities in Elfriede Jelinek’s Rein Gold: Ein Bühnenessay.” (Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies 2021).
Another focus of her research is the work of the Austrian dramatist and novelist Marlene Streeruwitz. Dr. Kallin has published "Marlene Streeruwitz's Nachwelt as Feminist Postmodern Biography" (German Quarterly 2005) as well as “Inflicting Wounds and Leaving Scars in Marlene Streeruwitz’s Morire in Levitate.” (Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies 2012). She has also published “From the Body in Pain to the Body Transformed: Feminist and Trans Readings of Franz Kafka” (Journal of Austrian Studies 2020), and "Karen Duve’s Short Story “Grrrimm”: Werewomen, Werewolves, and Witches in a Feminist Adaptation of the Grimms’ “Little Red Cap” (Monatshefte für deutschsprachige Literatur und Kultur 2024); “Ali Samadi Ahadi’s Cinematic Comedy Salami Aleikum: Humor, Gender, and Muslims in Germany” (Colloquia Germanica 2023).
Her interest in women's theater and critical race studies is also reflected in her monograph entitled The Presentation of Racism in Contemporary German and Austrian Plays (Mellen Press, 2007). In this book, Dr. Kallin examines seven plays by contemporary German and Austrian women dramatists and their description of outsiders to the German and Austrian nations, cultures, ethnicity/race, or Christian religion. Recently, Britta Kallin has added a research interest in film and juvenile literature as can be seen in her publications “Presenting Alterity in Angelina Maccarone’s Fremde Haut (2005) and Tatort: Wem Ehre gebürt (2007)” (Glossen. Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern nach 1945 2013) and in her research on gender roles in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart triology “Meggie Folchart’s Absent Mother and Omnipotent Father: Gender Roles in Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart” (A Different Germany: Pop and the Negotiation of German Culture 2014). Dr. Kallin also works in the field of environmental humanities, ecocriticism, and ecofeminisn and published “Barbara Dombrowski’s Tropic Ice: Dialog Between Places Affected by Climate Change.” (A Global Humanities Approach to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Understanding Planet, People, Prosperity, edited by Kelly Comfort, Routledge, 2024).
Britta Kallin was appointed Associate Editor (2001-2003) and Editor of Communications from the International Brecht Society (2004-2006). From 2021-2024, she served as the book review editor for literature and culture of the German Studies Review. She was selected as a fellow in the TrainDaF program of the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German, 2002). She has also served as reviewer of manuscripts and grant applications for a variety of journals and organizations in the field of German and Austrian studies. In 2012, the members of the Metro German Atlanta organization elected her as president. In 2014, she was elected Vice President of the American Association of Teachers of German in Georgia. After having served two years as VP, she became President of the AATG-GA in 2016. Dr. Kallin has received research support from CIBER, Ivan Allen College, SLS Serve-Learn-Sustain, and the Georgia Tech Foundation. At GT, Dr. Kallin taught in the German LBAT (Languages for Business and Technology) program from 2015-2024 and served as its director from 2018-2024.
Britta Kallin has given dozens of presentations about her research at a variety of venues and she can be contacted at bkallin@gatech.edu
- Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, Ohio
- Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies
- M.A., University of Cincinnati, Ohio
- Staatsexamen, Universitaet Hamburg, Germany
Distinctions:
- Certificate of Merit from the Goethe-Institute in the United States and the American Association of Teachers of German (2021)
- Women in German Faculty Research Award (2021)
- Class of 1934 CIOS Award, Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching (2020)
- AATG-GA Professor of the Year (2018)
- Excellence in Teaching Student Choice Award, Serve-Learn-Sustain (2017)
Interests
- German
- Literary and Cultural Studies
Focuses:
- Europe
- Gender
- Race/Ethnicity
- Cinema Studies
- Cross-Cultural Understanding
- Drama and Theater Studies
- Intercultural Issues
- International Communication
- Language and Popular Culture
- Literature
- Media
- Migration
- Performance
- Post-Colonialism
- Queer Studies
- Sustainability
Courses
- GRMN-1002: Elementary German II
- GRMN-2001: Intermediate German I
- GRMN-2002: Intermediate German II
- GRMN-2699: Undergraduate Research: #metoo in the German Media
- GRMN-3011: Germany Today
- GRMN-3030: Crossing Borders Lit/Cul
- GRMN-3055: Fairy Tales Grimm/Disney
- GRMN-3110: TV & Electronic Culture
- GRMN-3695: Structure,Commun&Corr
- GRMN-3696: Current Issues
- GRMN-3823: Special Topics
- GRMN-3833: Special Topics
- GRMN-4010: Perspectives Grmn Media
- GRMN-4024: Ger Film and Literature
- GRMN-4026: German Post-Wall Cinema
- GRMN-4500: Intercultural Seminar
- GRMN-4691: Berlin in the 20th Cent
- GRMN-4693: Industrial Transformation and German Society/Economy
- GRMN-4695: German Internship
- GRMN-4699: Undergraduate Research
- GRMN-4813: Special Topics: Sustainable Development in Germany
- GRMN-6010: Perspectives Grmn Media
- GRMN-6252: DOM Internship Germ
- GRMN-6500: Intercultural Seminar
- GRMN-6510: Language Practicum
- GRMN-6511: Applied Language Practicum Abroad
- GRMN-6695: German Internship Abroad
- GRMN-6998: M.S. Project: Visual Representations of Refugees
- GRMN-6998: Master's Project: Cameroonian Sports Event in Germany
- GRMN-6998: Master's Project: Soccer and Sustainability
- GRMN-7000: Master's Thesis: Modal Particles in German
- GRMN-8803: Special Topics
- GRMN-8903: Special Problems: German Artists
Publications
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
- “Elfriede Jelinek’s Fairy Tale Rewritings in Die Prinzessinnendramen I-II (Schneewittchen) and (Dornröschen): A Feminist “Parasitic“ Approach.“
In: Journal of Austrian Studies, vol. 57. 3/4, fall/winter 2024. 191-219.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2024
- "Karen Duve’s Short Story “Grrrimm”: Werewomen, Werewolves, and Witches in a Feminist Adaptation of the Grimms’ 'Little Red Cap.'”
In: Monatshefte für deutschsprachige Literatur und Kultur, vol. 116.4, winter 2024, 551-569. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
Chapters
- “Elfriede Jelineks Texte über Gewalt, Sprache und Gender im globalen Kontext (Elfriede Jelinek‘s Texts about Violence, Language, and Gender in a Global Context).“
In: Sprache und Gewalt: Multiperspektivische Zugänge (Language and Violence: Multi-Perspective Approaches) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2025
- “Barbara Dombrowski’s Tropic Ice: Dialog Between Places Affected by Climate Change.”
In: A Global Humanities Approach to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Understanding Planet, People, Prosperity, edited by Kelly Comfort, Routledge, 2024. 43- [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
- “Rechtspopulismus” (Right-wing Populism)
In: Elfriede Jelinek Handbuch, edited by Pia Janke, Metzler, 2024, 389-394.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
All Publications
Books
- The Presentation of Racism in Contemporary German and Austrian Plays: Six Women Playwrights.
Date: 2007
Journal Articles
- “Elfriede Jelinek’s Fairy Tale Rewritings in Die Prinzessinnendramen I-II (Schneewittchen) and (Dornröschen): A Feminist “Parasitic“ Approach.“
In: Journal of Austrian Studies, vol. 57. 3/4, fall/winter 2024. 191-219.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2024
- "Karen Duve’s Short Story “Grrrimm”: Werewomen, Werewolves, and Witches in a Feminist Adaptation of the Grimms’ 'Little Red Cap.'”
In: Monatshefte für deutschsprachige Literatur und Kultur, vol. 116.4, winter 2024, 551-569. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
- “Ali Samadi Ahadi’s Cinematic Comedy Salami Aleikum: Humor, Gender, and Muslims in Germany.”
In: Colloquia Germanica (54. 3-4) 2023, pp. 507-527.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2023
- “Intertextualities in Elfriede Jelinek’s Rein Gold: Ein Bühnenessay.”
In: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2021
- “From the Body in Pain to the Body Transformed: Feminist and Trans Readings of Franz Kafka.”
In: Journal of Austrian Studies [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- “Alterität als Kunst – Kunst als Alterität.” With Rita Svandrlik (50%). „Was zu fürchten vorgegeben wird“.
In: Alterität und Xenophobie. Ed. Susanne Teutsch. Vienna: Praesens Verlag 2019. (= DISKURSE.KONTEXTE.IMPULSE. Publikationen des Elfriede Jelinek-Forschung) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
- “Presenting Alterity in Angelina Maccarone’s Fremde Haut (2005) and Tatort: Wem Ehre gebürt (2007)”.
In: Glossen. Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern nach 1945. 37 (2013). [n. pag] [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2013
- “Inflicting Wounds and Leaving Scars in Marlene Streeruwitz’s Morire in Levitate.”
In: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies 48.4 (2012): 473-489. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2012
- “Intertextualities in Elfriede Jelinek’s Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel): Luis Buñuel’s Exterminating Angel, the Bible, and T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Hollow Men.’”
In: Glossen. Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern nach 1945. 33 (2011). [n. pag.] [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2011
- “‘Die Feder führ ich unermüdlich’ -- Helmina von Chézy’s Rosamunde as Intertext in Elfriede Jelinek’s Der Tod und das Mädchen III (Rosamunde)”.
In: Glossen. Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern nach 1945. 26 (2007). [n. pag.] [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2007
- “Gender, History and Memory in Marlene Streeruwitz’s Recent Prose.”
In: Glossen. Literatur und Kultur in den deutschsprachigen Ländern nach 1945. 21 (2005). [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2005
- “Marlene Streeruwitz’s Nachwelt as Feminist Postmodern Biography.”
In: German Quarterly 78.3 (Summer 2005): 337-356. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2005
- “The Role of the Roma in Elfriede Jelinek’s Stecken, Stab und Stangl.”
In: Colloquia Germanica: Internationale Zeitschrift für Germanistik 37.2 (2004): 173-193. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- “Jörg Haider as a Contemporary Orestes: Aeschylus’s Oresteia in Elfriede Jelinek’s Das Lebewohl.”
In: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies 39.4 (November 2003): 329-349. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2003
- “Zähmen oder Aufregen? Zur Funktion der Frauenfiguren in F. M. Klingers Die Zwillinge.”
In: Lessing Yearbook XXXV (2003): 223-243. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2003
- “In Brecht’s Footsteps or Way beyond Brecht? Brechtian Techniques in Feminist Plays by Elfriede Jelinek and Marlene Streeruwitz.”
In: Communications from the International Brecht Society 29.1-2 (2000): 62-66.
Date: 2000
- “Brechtian Theory and Theater Techniques in Marlene Streeruwitz’s Bagnacavallo.”
In: Communications from the International Brecht Society 28.1 (1999): 49-53.
Date: 1999
- “Ist Hoftaller besser als Tallhover? Eine vergleichende Figurenanalyse zwischen Hoftaller in Günter Grass’ Ein weites Feld und Tallhover in Hans Joachim Schädlichs Tallhover.”
In: New German Review 12 (1999): 98-112. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1999
- “‘Gut sei gewesen, was die Entfaltung alles Lebendigen gefördert habe:’ Feminist Mythmaking and Christa Wolf’s Medea. Stimmen.”
In: Focus on ‘Literatur’ 6.1 (1999): 39-57. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1999
Chapters
- “Elfriede Jelineks Texte über Gewalt, Sprache und Gender im globalen Kontext (Elfriede Jelinek‘s Texts about Violence, Language, and Gender in a Global Context).“
In: Sprache und Gewalt: Multiperspektivische Zugänge (Language and Violence: Multi-Perspective Approaches) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2025
- “Barbara Dombrowski’s Tropic Ice: Dialog Between Places Affected by Climate Change.”
In: A Global Humanities Approach to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Understanding Planet, People, Prosperity, edited by Kelly Comfort, Routledge, 2024. 43- [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
- “Rechtspopulismus” (Right-wing Populism)
In: Elfriede Jelinek Handbuch, edited by Pia Janke, Metzler, 2024, 389-394.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2024
- “Elfriede Jelineks Texte und Thesen zu Geschlecht und Gewalt,"
In: Geschlecht und Gewalt: künstlerisch-wissenschaftliche Perspektiven, edited by Andrea Heinz, Vienna: Praesens, 2023. 19-32.* [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2023
- "Feministische Perspektiven und Autorschaft in Marlene Streeruwitz’ Das wird mir alles nicht passieren… Wie bleibe ich FeministIn. (2010) und Frag Marlene. Feministische Gebrauchsanleitungen. (2018)."
In: Marlene Streeruwitz. Kontemporär. Schriften zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur, vol 12, ed. Mandy Dröscher-Teille and Birgit Nübel. Berlin: Metzler, 2022. 187-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64772-1_13 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2022
- “Surrealist Aesthetics and Intertextualities in Selected Works by Hanno Millesi.”
In: PASSAGES: Crossings • Borders • Openings In Conversation with Austrian Writers: The Austrian-American Podium Dialog by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger (Volume editor) Gabriele Petricek (Volume editor) 2022 Edited CollectionXII, 404 Pages. Peter Lang
Date: July 2022
- “Oliver Polak, Dave Davis, and Serdar Somuncu: German Comedians Work Against Stereotypes and Discrimination.”
In: Minorities and Minority Discourses in Germany since 1990, edited by Ela Gezen, Priscilla Layne, Jonathan Skolnik. New York: Berghahn Books, 2022. [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2022
- “Amerikanisch-österreichische Intertextualitäten und schreibende Frauen in Jelineks Der Tod und das Mädchen IV (Jackie) und Der Tod und das Mädchen V (Die Wand).“
In: JELINEK (JAHR)BUCH. Ed. Pia Janke and Konstanze Fladischer. Jelinek Forschungszentrum (2016-2017): 141-153.
Date: June 2017
- “Meggie Folchart’s Absent Mother and Omnipotent Father: Gender Roles in Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart.”
In: A Different Germany: Pop and the Negotiation of German Culture. Ed. Claude Desmarais.
Date: 2014
- “Scheitern als Perspektive – Feministischer Pessimismus als Werkzeug des jelinekschen Radikaltheaters.”
In: Die Frau hat keinen Ort. Elfriede Jelineks feministische Bezüge. Ed. Stefanie Kaplan.
Date: 2012
- “The Representation of Foreigners in German and Austrian Plays of the 1990s by Female Playwrights.”
In: Essays on Twentieth-Century German Drama and Theater. An American Reception 1977-1999. Ed. Hellmut Hal Rennert.
Date: 2004
Internet Publications
- "Einige Bemerkungen zur Diskussion. Differenzierung oder Fortsetzung unter anderen Vorzeichen?" Agnieszka Jezierska und Britta Kallin
In: Projekt Geschlecht und Gewalt: https://ifvjelinek.at/forschungsarbeiten/projekt-geschlecht-und-gewalt/
Date: May 2022
- "Feminist Scholarship and Feminist Activism." With Sabine von Mering (50%)
In: Digital Feminist Collective Website
Date: May 2020
- "Das Sprechen über die Unmöglichkeit zu sprechen." With Rosemarie Brucher and Silke Felber
In: Sprachliche Strategien der Ein- und Ausgrenzung
Date: June 2019
- “Internationale Perspektiven auf Jelinek und Gender.” Invitation to Comment on Jelinek's Recent Works and Concepts of Gender
In: Jelinek Research Center at the University of Vienna Internet Publication
Date: December 2016
- “Elfriede Jelineks Solidaritätsbekundungen: Die Parteimitgliedschaft in der KPÖ, ihr marxistischer, feministischer und politischer Einsatz für verfolgte KünstlerInnen und ihr Engagement gegen totalitäre Strukturen.”
In: TABU: Bruch. Überschreitungen von Künstlerinnen: Interkulturelles Wissenschaftsportal der Forschungsplattform Elfriede Jelinek.
Date: 2013
Interviews
- “In and Out of the Box: An Interview with Performance Artist Bridge Markland.”
In: Women in German Yearbook 30 (2014): 74-88.
Date: 2014
- “Junges deutsches Theater in den USA: Interview mit Kerstin Specht über ihre Theaterstücke.”
In: German Quarterly 77.4 (Winter 2004): 482-490.
Date: 2004
- “‘Die andere Frau’: Professorin für Theater- und Filmwissenschaft.” Interview with Renate Möhrmann.
In: Focus on ‘Literatur’ 6.1 (1999): 83-96.
Date: 1999
- “Die besten Ideen und die ‘unverhofften Bekannten’ kommen beim Schreiben.” Interview with Klaus Modick.
In: Focus on ‘Literatur’ 4.1 (1997): 77-91.
Date: 1997
- “Ein knallroter Umschlag wäre mir für Ruth Klügers Buch unpassend erschienen…” Interview with Thedel von Wallmoden, Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen. In cooperation with M. Rice and J. Rapé.
In: Focus on ‘Literatur’ 4.1 (1997): 93-103.
Date: 1997
Translations
- “Marlene Streeruwitz’ Roman Nachwelt als postmoderne feministische Biographie.”
In: Die Biographie – Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte. Ed. Wilhelm Hemecker.
Date: 2009