By treating sound as a form of knowledge, I trace the politics of representation and the decolonial aesthetics of diasporic expression, and ask how these practices let us experience culture, history, and identity differently.
I hold a PhD in English Literature and Performance Studies from King's College London, where I worked on dub poetry, under the supervision of Professor Paul Gilroy. My thesis is now a monograph on the early dub poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Michael Smith, under contract with Brill (forthcoming 2026).
Alongside my university research, I develop projects that create conditions for different voices to be heard. These projects challenge dominant ways of knowing and being. They de-centre the forms of knowledge and authority that have historically determined who gets to speak, and who does not. The aim is straightforward: more equality in who has agency over ways of living. This means making space for voices that exist at the margins of normative thinking, and working toward social cohesion, justice, and a more equitable life in common.
Epistemology & knowledge production
Canon formation & literary value
Decolonial aesthetics
Gender, race & sonic culture
Archives, memory & transmission
The politics of form
Education
Master
Master
Master
Bachelor
Thesis: “Dub Poetry: A Study Beyond Predefined Interpretations”, under the supervision of Prof. Paul Gilroy
Subject-Matter Didactics & Educational Sciences (English and Music) | University Institute of Teacher Education, Geneva, 2014
Music Pedagogy | Haute École de Musique (HEM), Geneva, 2013
English Language & Literature | University of Geneva & University of Sydney (exchange), 2011
English Language & Literature; Musicology | University of Geneva, 2009
Current academic position
2025 - 2026
2021, 2024
Project: Parasonic
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of English and American Studies | University of Vienna
Project: Poetry Off the Page (ERC/FWF PI: Assoc. Prof. Julia Lajta-Novak)
External lecturer | University of Vienna
Parental Leave
Awards & Distinctions
2022
International teaching collaboration “DIY: Alternative Modes of Cultural Production in Modern and Contemporary Anglophone Literatures” (co-initiator), supported by Circle U
Circle U. Postdoctoral Mobility Fellowship research stay | Université Paris Cité
FWF funding for an open-access grant for the monograph (in progress)
Essay Prize, Wasafiri, “Dub Poetry and Theatre in Conversation: The Development of a Caribbean Performance Poetics”
I teach literature and cultural studies across secondary and higher education, guided by a core conviction: that literature shapes how we understand ourselves, others, and the world we share. In my BA and MA courses, I work to expand what we study and how. I bring underrepresented voices and marginalised traditions into dialogue with established frameworks, so that students gain the critical tools to situate literature within wider histories of cultural production and resistance.
I welcome supervision in areas related to my research. I can be reached at rachel.bolle-debessay@univie.ac.at.
Courses
2025 - 2026
2024 - 2025
2018 - 2019
Guest Teaching
2026
2025
2020
Son, performance, texte : décloisonner nos manières de créer et penser (invited), BA Theory Seminar | University of Arts, Lausanne
DIY: Alternative Modes of Cultural Production in Modern and Contemporary Anglophone Literatures (co-initiator), Circle U, MA Literary and Cultural Studies | University of Vienna
Black Atlantic Thinkers: Literature and the Struggle for New Worldviews, BA Literary and Cultural Studies | University of Vienna
The Power of Sound: Listening to Global Stories, VK Seminar | University of Vienna
Biografication: Life Narratives across Genres, BA/MA Literary & Cultural Studies | University of Vienna
Poetry off the Page, VK Seminar, Literature and Language Education | University of Vienna
Graduate Teaching Assistant in Comparative Literature | King’s College London
The Rebel Generation: Black British Writing, BA/MA Literary and Cultural Studies | University of Vienna.
Relationalité en basses fréquences: enjeux de la poésie-performance, Littérature française contemporaine | University of Lausanne
The Rebel Generation: Black British Writing, BA/MA Literary and Cultural Studies | University of Vienna
One Riddim, Many Homes: Dub Poetry and the Sonic Poetics of Home, MA Popular and Media Cultures | University of Vienna
Slave Narratives and the Reader, MA English Literature and Culture | University of Innsbruck
The Black Atlantic and Sound, MA Ethnomusicology | University of Geneva
· Network Editor, H-Net Network Poetry Performance Research | lauching 2026
· Co-editor, Open Library of Humanities – Special Collection International Advances in Poetry Performance Research | forthcoming 2026
· Lead Editor, Project Bibliography and Research Blog, Poetry Off the Page | University of Vienna, since 2023
· Committee Member, Annotated bibliography Lectures du monde | ISJM, Geneva, 2023
Secondary Education Teaching
2012 - 2017
English and Music Teacher | Gymnase de Nyon, Switzerland (ages 16–20)
English and Music Teacher | Collège André-Chavanne, Geneva (ages 15–19)
Cultural Leadership and Community Engagement
2018 - 2024
2014 - 2018
Coordinator and Project Manager | Association de Médiatrices Interculturelles (AMIC), Geneva
Conceptualisation, fundraising, and delivery of participatory cultural projects connecting marginalised
communities, cultural institutions, and public authorities.
· Geneva Museum of Ethnography : “Jebena “ (2022-23)
Intercultural programme supporting the museum’s shift toward community, co-creation and decolonial exhibition practice.
·
International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Geneva), Musée Gruérien (Bulle), Musée d’Ethnographie (Neuchâtel): Lectures Alternatives (2019-21)Cultural participation programme for migrants with limited access to museum spaces, funded by the Swiss Commission for Migration.
·
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights: Kids Guernica (2023)Intergenerational art project exhibited at Geneva’s human rights forum, amplifying the voices of marginalised families to a civic audience.
· Festival Far°: Cohabitations Multiples (2024)Bi-national (France–Switzerland) project on intercultural urban cohabitation, engaging young migrants and public institutions.
Volunteer | Association de Médiatrices Interculturelles (AMIC), Geneva
Supported the integration of unaccompanied minors and young adults through tutoring, cultural
activities, and liaison with schools, social services, and cultural institutions.