Thesis on Frankenstein awarded the drupa Prize

FriederikeDanebrock is awarded the drupa Prize 2022 for her thesis “Frankenstein. On Making Fiction.” drupa supports outstanding young scientists from the Faculty of Philosophy at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf with this award every year.

The Prize, that comes with Euro 6,000 prize money, was presented by Wolfram N. Diener, President and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, Erhard Wienkamp, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf, and Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck, Rector of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, in a formal ceremony at the premises of Messe Düsseldorf recently.

Dr. Andreas Pleßke, CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG and Chairman of the drupa committee, congratulated the prize winner on her achievement in a personal video message: “I congratulate FriederikeDanebrock cordially on receiving the drupa Prize 2022 and endorse this excellent decision. I am very happy that drupa also extends its activities beyond the print industry by promoting special talents of the Faculty of Philosophy with our Prize.”

Friederike Danebrock’s thesis, which was awarded “summa cum laude” and supervised by Prof. Dr. Roger Lüdeke as her doctoral supervisor, is dedicated to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818) and selected adaptations. The world-famous story of the young Swiss man Viktor Frankenstein, who creates an artificial human being, is one of the best-known examples of the horror genre influencing literature and popular culture alike.

Friederike Danebrock starts from the observation that the “Frankenstein complex” – the collection of adaptations and rewritings grouped around Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein – is characterised by a remarkable coincidence of theme and practice: we are dealing with a story about reproduction that is itself extraordinarily reproductive.

Her award-winning work is convincing because of its very innovative approach to cultural theory developing a theory of aesthetic fiction by incorporating different disciplinary approaches, stated the Faculty of Philosophy at Heinrich Heine University explaining the reasoning for her nomination for the drupa Prize.

The next drupa will be held at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre from May 28 to June 7, 2024. Exhibitors can still register online by no later than 31 October 2022 at www.drupa.com.