Hans van Stralen (1954) works as assistant professor at the department of Comparative Literature at the University of Utrecht. I specialized in 20th century literature (especially Modernism and Existentialism), hermeneutics, phenomenology and the relationship between literature, philosophy and theology. I hold a PhD in literature, with a thesis on Modernism. I also have an M.A. in philosophy (with a thesis on Roman Ingarden and the Phenomenology of the Reader) and theology (with a thesis on Port Royal and Jansenism). In september 2009 I gained a PhD in theology with a thesis on ‘Narratives on Conversion’. At present I am writing a book on hermeneutics and an essay on the French ‘chanson’ as an existentialist genre.