Research Interests
• Applications of metaphor theory in creative writing
• Blending theory
• Eye-tracking and text processing
• Grammatical metaphor
• Sociolinguistics (esp. pidgins & creoles)
• History of the English language and linguicide
• Interdisciplinary studies
• Fictional worlds
• Early English poetry
Publications
in preparation]. "'Then Smaug spoke': On Constructing the Fantastic via Dialogue in Tolkien’s Story Cosmos.” (with A. Heilmann and S. Hintzen). D. Fimi et al., Hrsgg. Tolkien and Literary Worldbuilding (Cormarë Series 40). Zurich et al.: Walking Tree Publ.
[in preparation]. "Literary Analysis and Linguistics." Review für Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies.
[in print]. "'That's not normal rabbit behaviour': on the track of the grammar of fictional worlds." B. Neurohr et al., eds. Experiencing fictional worlds: where does a text take a reader?. Amsterdam et al.: Benjamins.
[in print]. "Striking a chord in the reader: on metaphor as a constituent of the grammar of verbal art." R. Wegener et al., eds. On verbal art: essays in honour of Ruqaiya Hasan. London et al.: Equinox.
2017. "On the overlap of grammatical metaphor and conceptual metaphor in political discourse: a reconciliatory approach." (with T. Serbina). S. Neumann et al., eds. Challenging boundaries in linguistics: systemic functional perspectives (Aachen British and American Studies 20). Frankfurt am Main et al.: Lang, 223-238.
2016. "The ravaging and hoard-guarding antagonist: a cognitive approach to dragon conceptualisations in Beowulf and selected writings of J.R.R. Tolkien." Fastitocalon 6, 169-184.
2016. "Derived from and flowing into reality: Faërie as a conceptual framework for the blending of story rooms." (with J. Scholz). Hither Shore 12, 8-20, 265-266.
2015. "'Oft in my face he doth his banner rest': war as a pervasive metaphor in early English literature." Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association 3, 51-70. <http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gcla.2015.3.issue-1/gcla-2015-0004/gcla-2015-0004.xml>.
2014. "Do you read me? Metaphor as a pathway to the conceptualisation of literary identity." (with J. Vaeßen). International Journal of Literary Linguistics 3, 1-18.<http://www.ijll.uni-mainz.de/index.php/ijll/issue/viewIssue/6/4>.
2014. "Bringing Tolkien to the table: blending and conceptual metaphor in the board game adaptations 'Der Herr der Ringe' and 'Der Hobbit'." (with N. Hützen). Hither Shore 10, 146-158; 221-222.
2013. "On the move: discursive integration of new mobility technologies through poetry." (with S. Strasen and P. Wenzel). I. Berensmeyer et al., eds. Perspectives on mobility (Spatial Practices 17). Amsterdam et al.: Rodopi, 193-212.
2013. "Automobility in poetry: a conceptual metaphor approach." (with A. Schumacher). I. Berensmeyer et al., eds. Perspectives on mobility (Spatial Practices 17). Amsterdam et al.: Rodopi, 213-225.
2012. "Conceptual metaphors revisited: the construction of space in nineteenth-century British railway poetry." (with A. Schumacher). M. Tönnies et al., eds. Spatial representations of British identities (anglistik & englischunterricht 75). Heidelberg: Winter, 191-203.
2011. "On the metaphorical conceptualisation of mobility technologies in poetry." (with S. Strasen and P. Wenzel). J. Frenk et al., eds. Anglistentag 2010 Saarbrücken: Proceedings (Proceedings of the Conference of the German Association of University Teachers in English 32). Trier: WVT, 341-350.
2010. "Diving through rock and hill: the machine as the slave of man in W. Cosmo Monkhouse's 'The Night Express'." P. Wenzel et al., eds. Discourses of mobility – mobility of discourse: the conceptualization of trains, cars and planes in 19th- and 20th-century poetry. Trier: WVT, 49-61.
2010. "On the imperative to melt into a handsome demon: the automobile and power in Filippo T. Marinetti's 'An das Rennautomobil'." P. Wenzel et al., eds. Discourses of mobility – mobility of discourse: the conceptualization of trains, cars and planes in 19th- and 20th-century poetry. Trier: WVT, 105-116.
2009. "Functional equivalence revisited: adequacy and conflict in the Tok Pisin Bible translation." P. Rüdiger et al., eds. Translation of cultures (Cross/Cultures 106; ASNEL Papers 13). Amsterdam et al.: Rodopi, 215-234.
2008. "The history of English." In P. G. Meyer et al. Descriptive English linguistics: an introduction (Narr Studienbücher). 4th ed., Tübingen: Narr, 158-208.
2007. "On the negotiation of Melanesian cultural identity." Pacific News 27, 26-28. <http://www.pacific-news.de/pn27/pn27_lothmann.pdf>.
2006. God i tok long yumi long Tok Pisin: Eine Betrachtung der Bibelübersetzung in Tok Pisin vor dem Hintergrund der sprachlichen Identität eines Papua-Neuguinea zwischen Tradition und Moderne (Aachen British and American Studies 18). PhD thesis. Frankfurt am Main et al.: Lang.
Conference papers
Then Smaug spoke: On constructing the fantastic via dialogue in Tolkien’s story cosmos. Literary Worldbuilding. (with A. Heilmann and S. Hintzen). Augsburg (Germany), Oktober 2017.
Mutual monsters: An approach to the conceptualisation of the dragon as a constituent of verbal art. Approaching the Historical: Symposium of Early Modern and Medieval Stylistics, Nottingham (England), June 2017.
Striking a chord in the reader: on metaphor as a constituent of the grammar of verbal art. European Systemic Functional Linguistics Conference 2016: Functional Linguistic and Social Semiotic Approaches to the Media, Salzburg (Austria), July 2016.
Get real, Gandalf: metaphor as a major constituent of the grammar of fictional worlds. (mit R. Wegener). Experiencing Fictional Worlds, Nottingham (England), June 2016.
Grammatical metaphor and conceptual metaphor in political discourse: a reconciliatory approach. The 2015 Metaphor Festival, Stockholm (Schweden), August 2015.
"Meaning beyond what we see": on the overlap of grammatical metaphor and conceptual metaphor in political discourse. Challenging Boundaries: 42nd International Systemic Functional Congress, Aachen (Germany), July 2015.
Derived from and flowing into reality: Faërie as a conceptual framework for the blending of story rooms. (mit J. Scholz). 12. Seminar der Deutschen Tolkien Gesellschaft, Aachen (Germany), May 2015.
"Oft in my face he doth his banner rest": War as a pervasive metaphor in early English literature. Construction and Cognition: 6. Internationale Konferenz der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Kognitive Linguistik (DGKL), Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany), September-October 2014.
War as a pervasive metaphor in early English literature. April Conference 13. Beyond Words: Crossing Borders in English Studies, Kraków (Poland), April 2014.
Do you read me? Metaphor as a pathway to the conceptualisation of literary identity. (mit J. Vaeßen). First International Conference on Cognition and Poetics, Osnabrück (Germany), April 2013.
Narrative filtering and conceptual metaphor in the table-top game adaptations ,Der Herr der Ringe’ and ,Der Hobbit’. (mit N. Hützen). 10. Seminar der Deutschen Tolkien Gesellschaft, Aachen (Germany), April 2013.
Discourses of mobility – mobility of discourse: the metaphorical conceptualization of trains, cars and planes in poetry. (mit S. Strasen und P. Wenzel). Deutscher Anglistentag, Saarbrücken (Germany), September 2010.
Automobility in poetry: a conceptual metaphor approach. (mit A. Schumacher). Spatial Practices Conference, Haßloch (Germany), Juni 2010.
Conceptual metaphors revisited: the construction of cultural space in 19th-century British literature. (mit A. Schumacher). Reading British Spaces: Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of British Cultures, Paderborn (Germany), November 2009.
Linguicide from within: on laisser-faire in postcolonial language ecologies. 15th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Essen (Germany), August 2008.
Internationalisation and cultural bridging: the Papua New Guinea case. First International Conference on Language Contact in Times of Globalization, Groningen (Netherlands), September 2006.
Functional equivalence reconsidered : adequacy and conflict in the Tok Pisin Bible translation. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the New Literatures in English (ASNEL/GNEL), Kiel (Germany), May 2005.
On functional equivalence: some aspects from the Tok Pisin Bible translation. Summer Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL), Honolulu (USA), August 2003.
Awards / Funding
2016-2017 - DfG funding: Place to Be (RWTH Aachen University)
2015-2017 - Blended Learning project funding: BL&ETS14-17 (RWTH Aachen University)
2016 -- Honorific title "RWTH Lecturer" for excellent teaching and research commitment
2009 -- Teaching prize of the RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Philosophy
2004, 2015 -- German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Fieldwork (Papua New Guinea); Conference (Sweden)
2002-2005 -- Post-graduate scholarship, RWTH Aachen University