Doctoral Candidate Marco Del Din

Marco Del Din obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Language, Culture, and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (curriculum: Japan) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and his Master of Arts in the Joint Degree in Transcultural Studies at Heidelberg University and Kyoto University. He is now pursuing his PhD in the Double Doctoral Degree in Asian and Transcultural Studies at Ca’ Foscari University and Heidelberg University. Currently, Marco is spending one year as a Japan Foundation Fellow in Kyoto in affiliation with the Graduate School of Letters of Kyoto University to conduct fieldwork for his PhD project. Since 2022, Marco is also a member of the HGGS, thanks to which he is able to pursue his commitment to interdisciplinary learning and further expand his academic horizons. Together with other members of the HGGS, he organized the “Body, Crossings” reading group in the Summer Semester 2023.

Marco’s research interests lie at the intersection of Transcultural, Queer, and Gender Studies, with a particular focus on Japan and contemporary performing arts. His PhD project aims at analyzing gender in contemporary Japanese society through the lens of drag. Specifically, it takes a drag show in Kyoto, particularly relevant both historically and in relation to the artistic and drag landscape of Japan, as a case study, and analyzes it by combining an ethnographic approach with a biographical one. Through interviews and participant observation at the club, he aims to unveil the transcultural character of gender in contemporary Japan, as well as the transculturality at the core of the art of drag.