Peter Zima - Curriculum vitae#

Born in Prague in 1946
Married to Veronica Smith born in Hull (UK)
Primary school in Prague (Smíchov) from 1952 to 1956
Emigration to Austria (Innsbruck) in 1956
Secondary School (Hauptschule) in Innsbruck and Hall i.T. (Franciscan Boarding School « Leopoldinum » at Hall) in 1957
1957-1965 : German Grammar School in The Hague (Deutsches Gymnasium in Den Haag)
March 1965: « Abitur » (German GCE)

1965-1969: Sociology and Politics at Edinburgh University (with Spanish Literature as an outside subject: 2 years)
July 1969: MA (Hns. 1st class) in Politics with an MA-dissertation on Thomas Hobbes : « The Rationale of an Arbitrary Synthesis » : manu¬script, Univ. of Edinburgh, Faculty of Social Sciences
July 1969: « Heatly Prize in Politics »


1969-1971: Grant of the French Government ; preparation of a « Doctorat du 3e cycle » at the l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (6th section) : initially with Lucien Goldmann, after his death with Jean Cassou
4th of June 1971: defends the first thesis (« La Mythologie du snobisme dans l’œuvre de Marcel Proust ») at the University of Paris IV : « Docteur en esthétique » (« mention très bien ») ; members of the jury : Jean Cassou (rapporteur), Marie-Jeanne Durry (présidente), Roland Barthes
1973 : publication of the thesis under the title « Le Désir du mythe. Une lecture sociologique de Marcel Proust », Paris, Nizet, 1973
\ 1972-1975: temporary assitant at the University of Bielefeld: from 1972 to 1973 at the Faculty of Sociology; from 1973 to 1975 at the Faculty of Literature and Linguistics

1975-1976: Grant of the French Government : matriculation for the « Doctorat d’Etat » at the University of Paris I with Olivier Revault d’Allonnes
auditeur libre in the seminars of Algirdas J. Greimas, Roland Barthes and Louis Marin

1976-1983: assistant (« medewerker »), at the University of Groningen (« Rijskuniversiteit van Groningen »)
15th of June 1979: defends the « Thèse d’Etat » at the University of Paris I : « Sociologie du roman. La Recherche de Marcel Proust » : « mention très honorable » (members of the jury : Revault d’Allonnes, rapporteur, Agulhon, Décaudin, Lascaut, J.-M. Vincent)
1980 : publication of the thesis under the title « L’Ambivalence romanesque. Proust, Kafka, Musil », Paris, Le Sycomore, 1980 ; Paris-Berne-Francfort, Lang, 1988 (édition revue et augmentée), Paris, L’Harmattan, 2002 ;

1980: a chair of « Sociology of Literature » is offered to him by the « Katholieke Hoge¬school Tilburg » (at present « Katholieke Universiteit van Brabant »/ »Catholic University of Brabant »); declines this offer
1981: Senior Lecturer (« hoofdmedewerker ») at the University of Groningen

March 1983: a chair of General and Comparative Literature is offered to him (from the first position on the list) by the University of Klagenfurt ; accepts this offer
since October 1983: Full Professor of « General and Comparative Literature » at the University of Klagenfurt
since 1984: director (« Institutsvorstand ») of the Institute of General and Comparative Literature

1985: visiting professor (« professore a contratto ») at the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples ; teaches Sociology of Literature : cf. P. V. Zima, « Breve introduzione alla sociologia del testo », Naples, Libreria « Sapere » 1985 : « dispensa » (syllabus for this course)

1987: visiting professor at the « Katholieke Universiteit Leuven » (Catholic University of Leuven) within the framework of an exchange programme between the Catholic University of Leuven and The University of Pennsylvania

1991: a chair of General and Comparative Literature is offered to him by the University of Bayreuth from the first position on the list ; declines this offer

1919/92: visiting professor at the University of Graz (« Institut für Romanistik » / Inst. of Romance Languages and Literatures) ; teaches French and Spanish Literature

1993: receives the Woitschach Prize for his book « Ideologie und Theorie. Eine Diskurskri-tik » (« Ideology and Theory. A Critique of Disourse »), Tübingen, Francke, 1989 : « Woit-schach-Forschungspreis 1993. Im Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Bonn

1994/95: visiting professor at the University of Vienna at the Institute of Comparative Literature ; teaches General and Comparative Literature

1998: becomes corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (« Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften »), Vienna
from 1998 to 2003: member of the APART committee of the Academy (responsible for the distribution of research grants)
from 1998 to 2006: member of the Commission for General and Comaprative Literature of the Acadmy: “Kommission für Literaturwissenschaft”

1998: takes part in the evaluation of General and Comparative Literature in the Netherlands (Utrecht)

2002: visiting professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela; teaches General and Comparative Literature

from 2007 to 2009: Director of the « Institut für Kultur-, Literatur- und Musikwissen¬schaft » (Institute of Culture, Literature and Music), University of Klagenfurt: an institute resulting from the enlargement of the Institute of General and Comparative Literature

2010: becomes member of the “Acedemia Europaea” (European Academy) in London