SEMINAR ‘LITERATURE AND THE EXTENDED PRESENT’

October 20th, 5-7 p.m., PC Hoofthuis, Spuistraat 134, room 115

BLINDNESS & INSIGHT
hosted by dr. Stephan Besser and dr. Rudolph Glitz

Over the last decades, the study of literature has branched off into many directions. Much to its benefit, literary studies has entered into a many-voiced, intense discussion with philosophy, aesthetic theory, cultural sociology, political theory, popular culture studies – to name just a few of the many conversation partners. As a result, literary theory scholars of today study a wide variety of cultural phenomena: film, theatre, performance art, visual culture, et cetera. Yet paradoxically, this diversification of literary studies has pushed a number of intriguing, fundamental questions into the background. What is the place of literature in the present? How is it produced, interpreted, and received? What is the modi operandi of contemporary literary culture, and why is it that literary art, authorship and commitment continue to play such an important role in the present? And what are the assumptions that underlie the contemporary study of literature?

These questions are central to the seminar ‘Literature and the Extended Present’, organized by a diverse group of UvA scholars with an interest in literary studies. On October the 20th, a session on methodology will be organized by dr. Stephan Besser and dr. Rudolph Glitz. They will talk frankly on the methodological assumptions and challenges of their own research activities and invite the participants to enter into a open-hearted discussion with them. This session, therefore, will have a interactive, workshop character.

Stephan Besser is assistant professor Modern Dutch Literature. His research focuses on the poetics of knowledge, interdiscursivity and postcolonialism.
Rudolph Glitz is assistant professor English Literature. His research interests are Victorian literature, the poetic and the unpoetic, and literary constructions of generational and age group identities.

All UvA staff members, PhD and RMA students are invited. Feel free to forward this invitation to other who might be interested.

Note: reading materials will be pre-circulated for this lecture. Those attending are expected to study them in advance. UvA-students (RMA and PhD) can access the materials through the BlackBoard site [see ‘My Organisations’ on your BlackBoard homepage]). Other attendees are requested to contact the co-ordinator for details: gaston.franssen@uva.nl.