Fulbright Recipient Takes Her Literary Research to Vienna Before Heading to Grad School

Rutgers alum Emily Trujillo traces aphasia, a language disorder, in the works of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek

Emily Trujillo's research involves the works of two famed Austrians - reason enough for the Rutgers University-New Brunswick graduate to head to the culturally rich nation in Central Europe.

Thanks to a grant from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the Hillsborough, N.J., resident spent October through June in Vienna, where she taught English, engaged in coursework and conducted research on a combined research and teaching grant - a Fulbright opportunity available only in Austria.

Trujillo, who graduated from the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences in spring 2025 with bachelor degrees in philosophy and German literature, discusses her research project - tracing aphasia (the inability or impaired ability to understand or produce speech) in the works of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek - and her post-Fulbright plans.

What drew you to your field of study?

I'm generally most interested by negativity in language, like silence and speech "disorders." Literary study is uniquely equipped to approach these projects since it can approach language in a way that isn't pathologizing.

A speech therapist, for example, would approach a speech impediment as something to be cured, and there's definitely merit in that kind of scientific approach.

But not everything benefits from a symptom-diagnosis-cure model of thinking. A poet would never say that language that doesn't come in full sentences is disordered.

In this way, the study of literature and poetry can think about language even and especially in its negativity.

Describe your Fulbright project.

I'm studying aphasia in the writings of Freud and Jelinek. I'm very grateful to be based at the Sigmund Freud Museum and an interuniversity research network on Elfriede Jelinek, which allows me access to many relevant texts.

I also teach English at two academic high schools and take coursework in theater, film and media studies at the University of Vienna.

When people hear "aphasia," many think that I'm working on neurology or linguistics. That's partway true. Before he was psychoanalyst, Freud was a neurobiologist, and one of his first books was actually on aphasia. My project draws parallels between the neurobiological concept "paraphasia," an aphasia-adjacent condition that's virtually indistinguishable from nonpathological mix-ups (like when someone is nervous or tired), and the psychoanalytic "parapraxis," commonly known as the "Freudian slip."

Whereas paraphasia is considered a disorder to be treated, parapraxes offer us a window into the psyche. So, it becomes possible to think of psychic life as structured by aphasia.

Since Freud frequently likens the psyche to a writing device, the question moves toward the relation between aphasia and writing. Here, there are rich parallels to Jelinek's work, which contests the possibility that (working-class and postwar Austrian) women can use language to subvert oppressive structures.

The theory of a "women's writing," a feminine and anti-patriarchal mode of writing, as opposed to traditional, male-dominated writing, became popularized in the late 20th century.

I've gained teaching expertise, and my relationships with colleagues and friends are totally priceless. I feel really lucky to spend a year reading and writing about topics that I care about.

Emily Trujillo

Rutgers-New Brunswick graduate

Jelinek's prose, I argue, challenges this category of "women's writing" on the grounds that writing is inherently male-coded and oppressive. Hers is very foul, hateful prose, filled with clichés. But it still exhibits many of the characteristics of "women's writing."

Since women's writing isn't as progressive as it claims to be, the project started looking for another model of writing that could subvert oppressive structures. When the French philosopher Jacques Derrida thinks about how often Freud brings up writing as a metaphor to understand the psyche, he wonders exactly what kind of writing that is. That's how he develops the idea of "nonphonetic writing."

Nonphonetic writing is quite different from regular writing. What we might usually imagine as writing would be called "phonetic writing," since the graphemes - written letters or letter combinations - match with the phonemes, or speech sounds. This article is an example of phonetic writing, since we can read it out loud. Jelinek, as well as the supporters of "women's writing," are all dealing with issues of phonetic writing.

The nonphonetic writing of the psyche is pretty hard to imagine. It's not legible and it can't be spoken out loud. It's the "writing" of dreams, where there aren't any stable signs at all. Since it basically has no structure, it can't ever become an oppressive structure. And, since it can't ever be voiced aloud, it's also aphasiac.

What have you gained from your Fulbright experience? 

Living in Vienna has been a very special experience for many reasons.

Speaking German is much less daunting. I've gained teaching expertise, and my relationships with colleagues and friends are totally priceless. I feel really lucky to spend a year reading and writing about topics that I care about.

How will you apply what you've learned moving forward?

This is the most self-guided research project that I've undertaken so far.

It's taught me a lot about how to manage my time and organize my thinking. And I know that I'll cherish the personal and professional connections that I've made here long into the future.

What brought you to Rutgers?

The richness of opportunities to study the humanities.

What are your plans after studying abroad? 

I'm excited to begin a Ph.D. in literature at Duke University in the fall.

Undergraduate and graduate students interested in applying for a Fulbright grant may contact the Rutgers-New Brunswick Office of Distinguished Fellowships or the School of Graduate Studies, respectively.