Astrid Klee

I completed my undergraduate in German Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I also received my master’s degree.

I have spent the last few years translating early German psychiatric texts and I have co-authored several journal articles about pioneers in the field of psychiatric genetics. I am particularly interested in exploring the ways in which late 19 to early 20th century psychiatric case studies and self-narratives transform during this time period against the backdrop of political changes and developments in the sciences.

Additionally, I am investigating what it means to confess the deeds of others to a wider readership by means of first-person non-fiction autobiography and the historical novel. I focus on literature that began appearing in the early 21st century, whose narrators recount their memories of relatives who lived through the era of national socialism, and were either complicit with its policies and activities or were silent witnesses.