Contemporary Literature?
Contemporary Literature?
Branching out into the field of English language, culture, and literature, Transfer. Reception Studies Editorial Team would like to cordially invite you to submit articles and reviews to the upcoming issue (2024). We would like to tackle the question of “new,” “recent,” or, simply speaking, “contemporary” literature even though each of these labels seems to be slightly inaccurate and inexhaustive. What is new, fresh, or recent often draws our attention, contributes to comprehensive reading experience, and builds up living literary markets and communities. The 21st century novels, poems, and plays devise new codes and languages to grasp and name rapidly changing and deeply challenging reality. And yet, “centuries” as points of reference orientating us within a historical process seem to mean less and less when facing liquidity of everyday life in global capitalism. The “novelty” of literature might also easily fade away as an abundance of diverse works is being published each year whereas “novel,” “new,” and “innovative” gradually cease to denote the same qualities. As we are more than ever aware of discursive practices of power – which permeate through literary awards, literary capitals, or literary markets – we notice how our sense of “being here” and “being now,” or our very understanding of “contemporaneity,” becomes confused. Under such circumstances, how can we argue whether something is “worth reading” or “worth buying”? Is canon still a valid point of reference, and, if yes, what should it include? What belongs to the literary centre/peripheries? Are these categories still relevant within historical and theoretical reflection?
Contemporary literature is also the literature (of the) “now.” Our globalised and cosmopolitan society, informed by progressing digital revolution, transforms the ways in which knowledge, ideas, and conventions are spread, reworked, (re-)contextualised, or even recycled. It is especially visible in the revolution in AI, manifesting its intricacies and promises in both home and professional uses. These radicalise the way in which we share knowledge and information, and urge us to revisit the roles of the creator, the mediator, and the receiver, all of whom/which might no longer be human.
Regardless of these complexities, it is impossible to look at contemporary literature as a dissolving concept: after all, personal reading experience is still central to understanding literature and literariness. New literary output vitally comments upon the burning issues, many of which might have lacked proper representations hitherto, be it environmental disasters, (post-)pandemic reality, structures of memory and trauma, or anxieties new technologies provoke. Therefore, we would like to invite you to submit papers on recent tendencies or “contemporary” texts as well, which indeed transform literary landscape(s) of the 21st century.
We are looking forward to gathering and connecting with scholars whose work and research interests include (but are not limited to):
- 21st century fiction, poetry, and drama
- reception of contemporary literature
- new / recent / contemporary literature
- “functions” of the critique / criticism
- innovations and revolutions
- comparative and world literatures
- accumulation and transfers of literary capital
- literary market and literary prizes
- literary canons and minority literatures
- literature and activism
Transfer. Reception Studies publishes academic papers, reviews, news, and essays (conference reports are also accepted) on subjects included in the profile of our journal and concerning other national literatures. We would like to create a network of ideas, concepts, methodologies, and problems that the researchers interested in reception, audience, and transnational communication find especially dear nowadays. Finally, we invite you to submit texts that touch upon other issues aligning with broadly understood reception studies.
Articles, including all required metadata, should be submitted through the OJS system by the Mai 1, 2024
