Contemporary Studies Network Panel: Defining the Contemporary

Speakers:

Diletta De Cristofaro, De Montfort University – Denarration and Contemporary Writing

Arin Keeble, Edinburgh Napier University – 9/11 and the Periodization of Contemporary Literature

Paul Crosthwaite, University of Edinburgh – Nothing New Under the Sun: Contemporary Studies and the Problem of the Longue Durée

Christina Brennan, University of Manchester – Contemporary Fiction and the Authority of the Literary Prize

Caroline Wintersgill, University of Winchester – Researching the Contemporary: Qualitative Methodologies and 21st Century Fiction

This panel consists of 7/10 minute “flash” papers interrogating one key idea around the notion of the contemporary in literary studies. In order: Douglas Coupland’s idea of denarration and how this is reflected in contemporary writings, 9/11 as a period marker, the identification of the contemporary with the ‘new’, the authority and reception of literary studies, qualitative methods in literary studies.

Thursday 6th July, 3.30