Office Arts 3S6
Tel +64 3 479 8694
Email cecilia.novero@otago.ac.nz
Cecilia Novero has a PhD in German Studies from the University of Chicago (USA). After positions held at the University of Michigan, Vassar College and Penn State University (UP), she joined the University of Otago (NZ) in 2008.
Her book entitled Antidiets of the Avant-Garde: From Futurist Cooking to Eat Art (UMP 2010) examines the temporal relations between the historical Avant-garde and the Neo-Avant-Garde, through the lens of material consumption. She has published essays on the German cultural history of food, Italian Futurism, Dada, Walter Benjamin, Viennese Actionism, artists Daniel Spoerri and Antoni Miralda, Eat Art, travel writing, and German and European film and photography. Most recently Cecilia has co-edited two issues of Antennae (www.antennae.org.uk), devoted to animals and photography, as well as the 28th volume of Otago German Studies, on material ecocriticism. An essay on artist Daniel Spoerri, Natural History Museums and archives appears in Seminar 53:3 (2017), and an article on Futurist cooking is forthcoming in G. Berghaus’s Handbook of International Futurism (De Gruyter, 2018).
Research / Supervision Interests
Cecilia's research and teaching interests are the interdisciplinary fields of Food Studies, Animal Studies and the Environmental Humanities. She pursues these interests by focusing on Visual Culture, mostly 20th and 21st-century European cinema and the art and texts produced by the historical Avant-garde and the Neo-Avant-garde movements. In her scholarship Cecilia has also explored the material role that nature and non-human animals play in literary and philosophical texts, in particular post-humanism. She examines all texts, whether art, film or literature, comparatively and cross-culturally. Cecilia has an abiding interest in the literature and art from the former German Democratic Republic, travel literature, adaptation theory, gender and queer theory, as well as critical theory – especially but not limited to the works of Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse and Theodor W. Adorno. She is an advocate of the public humanities, both as theoretical approach and as practice.
Cecilia has co-supervised several theses and dissertations, ranging from the work of individual authors or artists (Christa Wolf, Jean Cocteau, Franz Marc) to periods, genres, and/or theoretical issues (Weimar Republic fairy tales; GDR novels and the mother figure; masculinity and German contemporary novels; space and gender in film; graffiti art in post-1989 Berlin, among others). Cecilia welcomes postgraduate students interested in any of the above fields.
Cecilia's profile can also be found here
Publications
Novero, C. (2021, September). To look at art with a dog's nose or learning to smell in the company of ghosts.... Dunedin School of Art Lunchtime Research Seminar Programme, [Online]. [Research Presentation].
Novero, C. (2021, June). To look at art with a dog's nose: Learning to distill the materiality of (invisible) ghosts. Invited lecture as part of "Smell it! The fragrance of art" project at Künstlerhaus Bremen, Germany, [Online]. [Public Seminar].
Novero, C. (2021). Spirited away! Distilling avant-garde art. In Korpys/Löffler/Schmal, K. Bremen, F. Gonella & N. Quante (Eds.), Korpys/Löffler/Schmal: Geist. (pp. 47-76). Bremen, Germany: nomen nominandum buch.
Novero, C. (2020). A tête-à-tête about Willenbrock Christoph Hein and Cecilia Novero in conversation (2008). In C. Novero (Ed.), Imperfect Recall: Re-collecting the GDR [Otago German Studies vol. 30]. (pp. 141-173). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol30id433
Novero, C. (2020). The GDR: Thirty years on, incidentally. In C. Novero (Ed.), Imperfect Recall: Re-collecting the GDR [Otago German Studies vol. 30]. (pp. iii-xlviii). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol30id426
Novero, C. (2010). Antidiets of the avant-garde: From futurist cooking to eat art. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 368p.
Authored Book - Research
Novero, C. (Ed.). (2020). Imperfect Recall: Re-collecting the GDR [Otago German Studies vol. 30]. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago, 402p. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol30id424
Edited Book - Research
Novero, C., Obermayer, A., & Barton, P. (Eds.). (2017). Of rocks, mushrooms and animals: Material ecocriticsm in German-speaking cultures. Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of Languages and Cultures, University of Otago, 225p.
Edited Book - Research
Novero, C., Obermayer, A., & Barton, P. (Eds.). (2017). Of rocks, mushrooms and animals: Material ecocriticism in German-speaking cultures [Otago German Studies vol. 28]. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago, 225p. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol28id362
Edited Book - Research
Novero, C. (2021). Spirited away! Distilling avant-garde art. In Korpys/Löffler/Schmal, K. Bremen, F. Gonella & N. Quante (Eds.), Korpys/Löffler/Schmal: Geist. (pp. 47-76). Bremen, Germany: nomen nominandum buch.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2020). The GDR: Thirty years on, incidentally. In C. Novero (Ed.), Imperfect Recall: Re-collecting the GDR [Otago German Studies vol. 30]. (pp. iii-xlviii). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol30id426
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2019). Cuisine. In G. Berghaus (Ed.), Handbook of international futurism. (pp. 116-128). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2017). Echoes of ecocriticism: An introduction. In C. Novero, A. Obermayer & P. Barton (Eds.), Of rocks, mushrooms and animals: Material ecocriticism in German-speaking cultures [Otago German Studies vol. 28]. (pp. 7-40). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol28id362
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2015). Bear images: Human performativity and animal touch in Grizzly Man. In M. Lawrence & L. McMahon (Eds.), Animal life & the moving image. (pp. 238-253). London, UK: Palgrave.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2015). Eat art and fluxus. In G. Celant (Ed.), Arts & foods: Rituals since 1851. (pp. 596-613). Milan, Italy: Electa.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2012). Daniel Spoerri's Carnival of animals. In J. B. Landes, P. Y. Lee & P. Youngquist (Eds.), Gorgeous beasts: Animal bodies in historical perspective. (pp. 151-166). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2010). Miralda: Turning the tables. In M. Rodriguez & A. Múgica (Eds.), Miralda: De gustibus non disputandum. (pp. 59-69). Madrid, Spain: La Fábrica Editorial.
Chapter in Book - Research
Novero, C. (2020). A tête-à-tête about Willenbrock Christoph Hein and Cecilia Novero in conversation (2008). In C. Novero (Ed.), Imperfect Recall: Re-collecting the GDR [Otago German Studies vol. 30]. (pp. 141-173). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. doi: 10.11157/ogs-vol30id433
Chapter in Book - Other
Novero, C. (2017). Artists and friends: Daniel Spoerri's eat art gallery. In S. Bottinelli & M. d'Ayala Valva (Eds.), The taste of art: Cooking, food, and counterculture in contemporary practices. (pp. 191-210). Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press.
Chapter in Book - Other
Novero, C. (2017). Art in the archives of natural history: The temporalities of Spoerri's Ein Inkompetenter Dialog? Seminar, 53(3), 251-274. doi: 10.3138/seminar.53.3.05
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2015). Following in the tracks of a dog: "The Beggarwoman of Locarno" revisited. German Studies Review, 38(3), 491-508. doi: 10.1353/gsr.2015.0123
Journal - Research Article
Radner, H., & Novero, C. (2014). From hypnosis to animals by Raymond Bellour: Introduction. Cinema Journal, 53(3), 2-8.
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2013). Birds on air: Sally Ann McIntyre's radio art. Antennae, 27, 31-44.
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2013). Posthuman animals and the avant-garde: The case of Daniel Spoerri. Antennae, 26, 59-77.
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2007). Class and gender anxieties in Weimar nutritional discourse: Max Rubner's Volksernährung. Journal of Popular Culture, 40(1), 109-146.
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2007). Painful painting and brutal ecstasy: The material actions of Günter Brus and Otto Muehl. Seminar, 43(4), 453-468.
Journal - Research Article
Novero, C. (2017). Tom Denlinger's more-than-human photography [Interview]. Antennae, 41, 6-24.
Journal - Research Other
Novero, C. (2016). Interview with Mustafa Sabbagh [Interview]. Antennae, 38(1), 77-93.
Journal - Research Other
Novero, C. (2011). Film adaptation as collective enunciation on post-wall GDR literature and film: The case of the two Willenbrock(s). In E. Todd, C. Da Gama, E. Pullar & H. Radner (Eds.), Creative Imitations and Appropriations: From Cinematic Adaptations to Re-makes Research Colloquium: Selected Refereed Papers. (pp. 31-37). Dunedin, New Zealand: Centre for Research on National Identity. [Full Paper]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Novero, C. (2008). Timeout in post-wall Germany: Christian Petzold's Yella and the phantoms of late capitalism. In C. Miller (Ed.), Proceedings of the Film and History Conference: Film and Science: Fiction, Documentaries, and Beyond. [CD-ROM] Oshkosh, WI: Center for the Study of Film and History, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. [Full Paper]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper
Novero, C. (2019). Captive ghosts, im/mobile animals: Filming natural history. Proceedings of the Australasian Animal Studies Association (AASA) Conference: Decolonizing Animals. (pp. 83). Retrieved from https://aasa2019.org
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Novero, C. (2012). Eat Art Multiples: Daniel Spoerri and friends. Proceedings of the Art & Food Symposium. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/foodscience/pdfs/foodandartprogramme.pdf
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Novero, C. (2011). Adaptation as palimpsest of collective memories. In E. Todd (Ed.), Creative Imitations and Appropriations: From Cinematic Adaptations to Re-makes: Research Colloquium: Programme and Refereed Abstracts. (pp. 10-11). Dunedin, New Zealand: Centre for Research on National Identity, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Novero, C. (2011). Facing animals on screen: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005). Proceedings of the Screen Cultures Conference. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/languagescultures/screencultures.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Novero, C. (2019, June). A cosmopolitics of grievable bodies: Michael Haneke's Code Unknown (2000). Verbal presentation at the 26th International Conference of Europeanists: Sovereignties in Contention, Madrid, Spain.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2018, October). Take a walk on the wild side: Spoerri's collaborations in and with nature. Verbal presentation at the Topographies de Daniel Spoerri: l'artiste en ses réseaux [Daniel Spoerri's Topographies: Networks of Exchange], Paris, France.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2017, November). Photographic land-marks in Christoph Hein's Der fremde Freund. Verbal presentation at the Borders of the Visible Conference: Intersections between Literature and Philosophy, Turin, Italy.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2016, November-December). No clash, only bodies that grieve and grievable bodies (Haneke's Code Unknown). Verbal presentation at the German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA) International Conference: Cosmopolitan Imaginings in the German-Speaking World, Canberra, Australia.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2016, October). Daniel Spoerri's art of natural history: Ein inkompetenter Dialog? Verbal presentation at the Art and Future Symposium: Energy, Climate, Culture, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2015, November). Recollecting in natural museums: Spoerri and other artists in Vienna. Keynote presentation at the Aotearoa New Zealand Human-Animal Studies Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2015, October). Re-collecting in natural history museums: Art meets the zoological ark/archive (Vienna and Berlin). Verbal presentation at the Thirty-Ninthth German Studies Association Annual Conference, DC, USA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2014, January). Zooming in on Accaio: Pirandello and German cinema. Verbal presentation at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2012, January). For the love of animals: Companion-species stories and posthumanist history in Haushofer, Lange-Müller, and Kronauer. Verbal presentation at the 127th Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention: Language, Literature, Learning, Seattle, WA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2012, January). History as eaten by the neo-avant-garde. Verbal presentation at the 127th Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention: Language, Literature, Learning, Seattle, WA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2011, February). Adaptation as palimpsest of collective memories. Verbal presentation at the University of Otago Cultures, Histories and Identities in Film, Media and Literature Research Network Colloquium: Creative Imitations and Appropriations: From Cinematic Adaptations to Re-makes, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2011, July). Reworking the anthropological machine: Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005). Verbal presentation at the 4th Biennial Australian Animal Studies Group Conference, Brisbane, Australia.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2011, November-December). Bear images: Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005) and animal representation in film. Verbal presentation at the Fourth Biennial Conference of the German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA), Brisbane, Australia.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2010, June). The braided colors of Miralda's bread: How food empowers art. Verbal presentation at the Food, Power & Meaning in the Middle East and the Mediterranean International Conference, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2010, June). Working through the European map with the cinema. Verbal presentation at the European Network for Cinema & Media Studies Conference: Urban Mediations, Istanbul, Turkey.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2010, September). Of animals, silence, and noise: The power of powerlessness in Kleist's Other language. Verbal presentation at the Kleist and Modernity International Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2009, April). Walter Benjamin eats Borsch: Figuring the avant-garde. Verbal presentation at the University of Otago Russian Studies Research Cluster Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2009, July). Futurism biting its tail? Cooking and eating with Marinetti and Fillia. Verbal presentation at the Back to the Futurists Conference: Avant-gardes 1909-2009, London, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2008, October-November). Timeout in post-wall Germany: Christian Petzoid's Yella and the phantoms of late capitalism. Verbal presentation at the Film & History Conference, Chicago, IL.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2007, December). Benjamin's materialist surrealism: Cannibalizing Breton, Dalí, and others. Verbal presentation at the 123rd Modern Languages Association (MLA) Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Novero, C. (2007, October). Adopting adaptation again: The memory of the cinema. Verbal presentation at the Thirty-First German Studies Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
