Pascal Michelberger

Pascal Michelberger is a recent PhD graduate of Western University’s program in Comparative Literature (Department of Languages and Cultures). In his research, located at the intersection of literary studies, legal studies, and history, he highlights the ways in which the examination of fictional and non-fictional sources with the tools of scholarship rooted in the humanities can offer meaningful perspectives on conflict, peace, and the rule of law.

Michelberger is especially interested in the adequacy of legal investigations and trials for the purpose of addressing systematic human rights violations, establishing the truth about past events, and normalizing relationships between conflict parties. He has worked extensively on fictional approaches to the legal prosecution of Third Reich crimes in (West) Germany, the Spanish Civil War, and the Spanish transition to democracy after the Franco dictatorship. For his doctoral research at Western University, he was awarded an Ontario Trillium Scholarship.