Dr. Matthew Bell

Biography

Professor Matthew Bell has a distinguished career in German Comparative Literature, having graduated from Balliol College, Oxford in 1987 and completing his PhD under the supervision of Professor T. J. Reed in 1991. He joined the German Department at King's College London in 1993 and became a professor in 2007. His research interests include German literature and thought from 1700 to 1850, focusing especially on Goethe and the history of the human sciences, including psychology and mental illness. Bell co-edited the journal of the English Goethe Society from 2005 to 2012 and was the Director of the Comparative Literature Programme at King's from 2002 to 2011. He has published extensively on intertextual relations between German literature and the classical tradition, covering authors such as Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller, as well as contemporaries in France and Britain. His current projects include a large-scale study of Goethe's thought, aiming to connect literature with economic and political themes, and exploring the reception of ancient art in the late 18th century. A committed educator, Bell teaches courses in Comparative Literature and welcomes PhD applications related to his research interests.

Research Interests