Aya Chriaa

My name is Aya Chriaa, and I hold a Master’s degree in English and Dutch Literary Studies and Linguistics from the University of Ghent. During my academic journey, I also participated in the Erasmus exchange program, spending a semester at the University of Limerick in Ireland. My master’s dissertation, "I Got a Tree on My Back and a Haint in My House”: Racial Trauma, Resilience, and the Wounded Body in Toni Morrison’s Beloved explored Morrison’s novel as a narrative of trauma expressed through the lens of the Black body.

Currently, I am a pedagogical assistant working in the Department of English Literature at VUB, while also conducting research as I prepare a PhD application through the FWO under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bekers. My research focuses on cognitive approaches and looks at the role of the body in contemporary African American neo-slave narratives.