Imagining Inclusive fictional worlds: Counterfactuals, Possible Worlds, and Reader Reception

Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy

Updated: 3 months ago
Deadline: 26 Nov 2025

8 Nov 2025
Job Information
Organisation/Company

Università degli Studi di Verona
Research Field

Language sciences
Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)
Leading Researcher (R4)
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Established Researcher (R3)
Country

Italy
Application Deadline

26 Nov 2025 - 13:00 (UTC)
Type of Contract

To be defined
Job Status

Not Applicable
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

This project examines how counterfactuals in literature generate alternative possible worlds and how readers cognitively and emotionally engage with them. The project investigates how counterfactual scenarios shape narrative immersion, aesthetic appreciation, and perspective-taking, with a focus on their role in readers’ understanding of history, identity, and morality. Grounded in possible worlds theory, it develops a model of how counterfactual texts destabilize the “actual world” and invite readers to imaginatively inhabit alternatives. Employing a mixed-methods approach (eye-tracking, reception studies, and analysis of literary corpora), the project aims at demonstrating how counterfactual literature serves as a laboratory for imagination and ethical reflection. Literary works depicting dystopian and utopian scenarios, characterised by an inclusive approach to disability, gender and aesthetic parameters, will be examined.


Where to apply
Website
https://www.univr.it/home

Requirements
Additional Information
Eligibility criteria

For admission to the selection process referred to in Art. 1, potential candidates must fulfil the following requirements:
a) PhD in linguistic or literary field;
b) Possession of a scientific-disciplinary curriculum suitable for carrying out the research activity envisaged in this announcement;
c) Knowledge of the following foreign language: English.


Eligible destination country/ies for fellows:

  • Italy

Eligibility of fellows: country/ies of residence:

  • AFRICA
  • EUROPE
  • OCEANIA
  • NORTH AMERICA
  • SOUTH AMERICA
  • ASIA

Eligibility of fellows: nationality/ies:

  • AFRICA
  • EUROPE
  • OCEANIA
  • NORTH AMERICA
  • SOUTH AMERICA
  • ASIA

Selection process

The competition will be carried out by an evaluation of titles and examination by means of an interview.


Website for additional job details

https://www.univr.it/it/concorsi/contratti-e-assegni-di-ricerca/incarichi-post-…

Work Location(s)
Number of offers available
1
Company/Institute
Università degli Studi di Verona
Country
Italy
Geofield


Contact
City

Verona
Website

https://www.univr.it/home

STATUS: EXPIRED

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