This week’s text is Jennifer Hodgson and Patricia Waugh’s response to claims of a decline in British fiction. Many thanks to Liam Harrison for suggesting our reading this week, which examines perceptions of “the troubled fate of the British novel” in popular perceptions, publishing and prize culture.
Reading:
Jennifer Hodgson and Patricia Waugh, ‘On the Exaggerated Reports of a Decline in British Fiction’: http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/on-the-exaggerated-reports-of-a-decline-in-british-fiction/
Time & Place:
- 14:00-15:30, Wed 27 Feb 2019
- Shackleton Room (Arts 439)
“We no longer live even in an age of mechanical reproduction. We live in a post-industrial, neo-corporate, trans-national world of globalised forces where locating yourself in the particularities of a specific time and place requires more than rote learning the decontextualised soundbites of English literary tradition.” (Hodgson and Waugh, ‘On the Exaggerated Reports of a Decline in British Fiction’)
About the Doctoral Seminar:
This is an informal weekly reading group run for postgraduates within the Department of English Literature. We select a short text to read in advance, often a work of theory, then meet to discuss it. The seminar provides an opportunity to consider aspects of the reading that were thought-provoking or challenging for you, think about how it relates to texts you may have studied or plan to read, and share aspects of your own research and academic practice. It’s also a chance to get together, try out ideas, and meet fellow postgraduate researchers. There will be tea, coffee and biscuits and you are very welcome!
For access to readings, please email Dorothy Butchard (d.butchard@bham.ac.uk).