Barbara Tesio-Ryan

Dr Barbara Tesio-Ryan currently works as Information Services Supervisor for the libraries of the University of Edinburgh, where she previously held a post as Teaching Fellow in Comparative Literature and as a Danish Literature tutor. She holds a PhD in Scandinavian Studies, an MSc in Comparative and General Literature from the University of Edinburgh, and a BA in Literature and Performing Arts from the Sapienza University of Rome.

Barbara’s PhD thesis ‘Reassessing Karen Blixen’s Gengældelsens Veje/The Angelic Avengers: a Novel Challenging Gender, Totalitarianism and Colonial Practices’ offers a multidimensional and comprehensive reassessment of the Danish author Karen Blixen’s less known works. Blixen’s novel Gengældelsens Veje/The Angelic Avengers is used as a starting point to explore the historical context of publication of the text (Denmark under Nazi occupation), its transmission and reception into the cultural context of post-war United Kingdom and United States, as well as Blixen’s use of gothic genre as a way to subvert the concept of gender, totalitarianism and colonial practices.

Barbara’s current research interests include Scandinavian Studies, Comparative Literature, Postcolonial studies, Storytelling, Gothic Studies, Library and Information Science.