Eva: I’m looking at how the depiction of disabled bodies changes in translated literature throughout history.

Tell us about a normal day in the life of a postdoc. 

Eva: My work is very much what you’d imagine as the usual academic cliché – just me sitting at my desk, surrounded by old books and a computer screen and with the obligatory cat napping in the midst of it. I genuinely love this kind of quiet, everyday research, even though it might sound boring to many. I tend to divide my daily work into a morning and afternoon ‘shift’ with a lunch break and a walk to explore more of my Viennese neighbourhood between them, and I try to keep my evenings free for my hobbies - likely a sewing project with an audiobook in the background.

How will society benefit from your research? 

Eva: Language is one of our most powerful tools in understanding how we create societal concepts such as disability, but these views inevitably vary between languages and cultures. A close study of the retranslations of the same source text – in my case, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Shakespeare’s Richard III - which prominently feature descriptions of disabled bodies, help me to understand the historical changes that underpin these concepts and detangle the pathways that led to the current situation. Through this, I hope to gain a better understanding how different cultures talk about disability, which in turn will help fellow translators to make informed decisions that respect the dignity and agency of disabled people.

Share a funny/surprising or unexpected anecdote with us from your academic career so far:

Eva: Perhaps more of a personal highlight than an anecdote, but one of the most unforgettable moments of my life was learning that a fellow conference attendant had recently made a fabulous kilt out of fabric representing his native Ghana to wear at his graduation – we instantly bonded over our shared love of sewing.

What does REWIRE mean to you?

Eva: It’s the first time in my academic career where I can fully focus on just my research and my career, without the constraints of a PhD student or a postdoc working on a pre-existing project. While the scale and responsibilities associated with it are sometimes scary, it’s an incredibly liberating feeling.

Who is your personal heroine? 

Eva: It has to be Jane Austen, my all-time favourite writer. She lived in a society that had little faith in the creative abilities of middle-class spinsters like her, and yet she managed to produce books that were decades ahead of her time in terms of quality and originality, and that remain funny and enjoyable well into the present day.

The most important lesson learned so far that you want to share with other future (female) early post docs:

Eva: Prioritise self-care. I don’t necessarily mean bubble baths and candles (although I’m partial to both), but the very simple everyday things that let our bodies recharge, like a full nights’ sleep, reasonably good food and some measure of exercise. I know these things are difficult to maintain within the high-pressure academic environment, especially as we women have a proven tendency to prioritise the needs of others ahead of our own, but burnout is a very real danger in our profession and a bit of extra care for the basics pays off in the long run.

Quickfire Questions

Keyboard or Pen?

Keyboard, my handwriting is atrocious…

Vanilla or chocolate ice cream?

Vanilla!

Early bird or night owl?

To the eternal annoyance of all my nearest and dearest – definitely an early bird.

Interested in reading more about Eva's research? Click here.