CURRICULUM VITAE Born in Kolding, Denmark, September 1st, 1946. Education: Phd (‘mag.art.'), Scandinavian Studies, Aarhus University (1974), Habilitation (‘dr.phil.’), Philosophy of Language, Odense University (1987). Appointments: Associate Prof., Comparative Literature, Odense University (1976-1989), Distinguished Associate Professor, Comparative Literature, Odense University (1989-1992), Research Director, Humanities Research Center: Man and Nature (1992-1997), Professor of Semiotics and Cultural Analysis, Southern Danish University (1997), Professor of Comparative Literature, Aarhus University (1998-2014), special emeritus professor, Aarhus University (2014-2025), Honorary Professor in the School for European Languages, Culture and Society, University College London (2014-2019), Yangtze River Distinguished Professor, Sichuan University (2016-2019). Membership of Academies and Associations: International Association of Semiotic Studies (regional representative 1984-1992), Nordic Association of Semiotic Studies (1987-1996) (founding member), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik (1984-2002), International Comparative Literature Association (1991---) (member of executive committee 1991-1997, general treasurer 1997-2004, Coordinating Committee, 2007-2013, its secretary 2010-2013). - Elected member of Academia Europaea (2003---), chair of its Section for Literary and Theatrical Studies (2010-2015), chair of the Class of Arts & Letters (2014-2019), member of its expert group, Hercules, on higher education in Europe (2013-2019), member of its Board of Trustees (2014-2019), Vice-President (2015-2019). Member of the Governing Board of EuroScience (2018-2022). Research training responsibilities: Synapsis: International Doctoral School in Comparative Literature (member of advisory board 2000-2006). Hermes: International Doctoral School network (board of directors 1998-2008), Seminar leader, Institute for World Literature, Harvard U/City U of Hongkong (June-July 2014). Visiting professor: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Nov. 1985 and March 1992, Catholic University, São Paolo, Aug. 1990, Université de Limoges, Febr.-March 2003, University of Jyväskylä, March 2007, University of Bergen, March-April 2008, University College London, Sept. 2012-June 2013, Sichuan University, July 2015, Nanjng University, Sept. 2019 and Oct. 2023. Studies and research abroad: Boursier d’état, Université de Lyon, Oct. 1972-March 1973, Fulbright research grantee, April 1989 (Washington, USIA) and Febr.-Sept. 1993 (Rutgers), Monash University, Melbourne, Dec. 2006-June 2007, Leverhulme Visiting Scholar, University College London, Sept. 2012-June 2013.

Editor and organizer: Organizer/co-organizer of ca. 40 international and national conferences/seminars. Co-editor of Eksil (1973-1976), co-editor of Orbis Litterarum (2008- 2021). Evaluation: Member of national and international committees for doctoral dissertations, professorships and other positions. Reviewer for Scandinavian and European research academies and councils and for the European Science Foundation, for COST and for ERC. FCT-reviewer of Portuguese Research centers, 2007-2008 and 2014-2015. External expert in the Romanian Research Assessment Exercise, 2011. External expert in Högskolaverket’s evaluation of the literary programs in Swedish higher education, 2012-2013. External expert in the Latvian Research Assessment Exercise 2013, 2020 (Panel Chair/Humanities) and 2025. External expert for the evaluation of Slovakian research centers 2015-2016. Chair of the jury of EuroScience’s European Young Researcher Award, 2019-2022. Panel Chair for the evaluation of University of Luxembourg/Humanities, 2024-2025. Committees: Member of the committee under the Ministry of Research for the National Danish Research Strategy (1995), member of committees under the Ministry of Education for the reform of the Danish High School (2004-2008). Member of the Danish National Research Council for Culture and Communication (2005-2010), its vice-president (2009-2010). Danish representative in COST, Bruxelles, 2007-2009, and member of its expert panel (2009-2013). Board member of the Danish National Research Foundation (2011-2015). Books/authored/co-authored: Fortælleteori (with others, 1975), Litterær semiologi (1975, enlarged French trans. Sémiologie littéraire,1984), Sprogets geometri 1-2 (1986) (doctoral dissertation), Tegn i brug (with J. Dines Johansen, 1994, Croatian trans. Uvod u semiotiku, 2000; Eng. trans. Signs in Use, 2002, Chinese trans. Yingyong Fuhaoxue, 2018), Naturen er ligeglad (1996), A Roundtrip from Code to Structure (2000), Mutters alene (2002), I byen med Balzac (2002), Tekster uden grænser. Litteratur og globalisering (2007, English trans. Literature and the Experience of Globalization: Texts Without Borders, 2017; Chinese trans. Wu bianjie wenben: wenxue yu quanqiuhua, 2020), litteratur.dk (with others, 2009), Landscapes of Realism, 2 vols (with others, 2021-2022), Between Truth and Trust: Forgiveness as a Literary and Cultural Challenge (2024). (See full bibliography below) Edited/co-edited works: Sprog. Materialitet. Bevidsthed (1976), Communication et sujet (1980), Billeder - læst og påskrevet (1983), A l'occasion d'un centenaire: Actualité de Brøndal (1987), Semiotik in Skandinavien (1989), A Helluva Country: American Studies as a Cross-Cultural Experience (1991), City and Nature (1993), The Construction of Nature (1994), Bodyscapes (1995), Mennesket og naturen (1995), Gärten und Parks (1997), La rue - espace ouvert (1997), Nature: Literature and its Otherness (1997), Balzac (2000), Litteraturhistoriografi (2005), Knowledge Management in Postmodern Society (2012), Romanticism and Memory (2014), Literary Studies Across Cultures (2018), Mind the Gap. Bridging Secondary and Higher Education (2020), Landscapes of Realism vol. 2 (2022). Articles, entries, reviews etc.: 400+ mainly in Danish, English, French, German, Croatian and Chinese, but also in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Estonian and Dutch on comparative literature, literary history, cultural history, linguistics, language philosophy, history of ideas, nature conceptions, urban culture. Published in international and Scandinavian journals and anthologies. International lectures in Sweden, Finland, Norway, UK, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, USA, Canada, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Senegal, India, Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia. Honours and awards: Goldmedal for prize dissertation, Odense University (1972), Fyens Stiftsbibliotek’s award (1975), Fyens Stiftstidende’s award (1989), Sichuan Province Teaching Award (2018), President’s Merit Award, Academia Europaea (2021), European Society of Comparative Literature’s Excellence Award for Collaborative Research (collective award) (2024). Biographical reference works: Kraks Blå Bog (Denmark), www.lex.dk (Denmark)