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Women’s Agency in Visionary Eco-Aquatic Storytelling: A Transnational Study of British and Italian Fairy Tales, 1840-1910

Objective

WAVES (Women’s Agency in Visionary Eco-Aquatic Storytelling) is an interdisciplinary research project that investigates women and water’s entanglements in British and Italian fairy tales (1840-1910). Situated at the crossroads of comparative literary studies, environmental humanities, gender studies and cultural history, WAVES is the first transnational study of these fairy-tale traditions through the dual lens of ecocriticism and gender studies. The project positions itself at the intersection of two mutually illuminating currents: the flourishing of fairy-tale narratives and the birth of ecological thinking in the 19th century. It aims to (1) pioneer ‘visionary eco-aquatic storytelling’ as a new critical framework that foregrounds 19th century fairy tales as key interventions in environmental ethics; (2) examine the functions of water as a material agent in British and Italian fairy tales, analysing how human and otherworldly characters negotiate identity and power by disrupting patriarchal and anthropocentric worldviews; (3) recover neglected women-authored fairy tales in this timeframe. The project will achieve these goals through archival research, comparative literary and historical analysis, and the development of a typology of water motifs in the corpus under scrutiny. By mobilising 19th century fairy tales as forward-looking forms of environmental consciousness, WAVES contributes to urgent European and global agendas, generating academic and public-facing outputs that support sustainable and gender-inclusive narratives. As the EU advances its Water Resilience Strategy, WAVES uncovers how 19th-century fairy tales anticipated today’s debates on human-water interdependence. With expertise in comparative literature, fairy-tale studies and 19th-century women’s writing, I am ideally placed to develop this project, which will enhance my interdisciplinary profile and prepare me for a cross-sectoral career in academia, cultural heritage and ecofeminist advocacy.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 193 643,28
Address
DORSODURO 3246
30123 VENEZIA
Italy

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Region
Nord-Est Veneto Venezia
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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Partners (1)

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