With the passing of Paul Auster, the aesthetics of postmodernism retreated another significant step back into the past tense of history.
Articles on American literature
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The new TV series, Feud: Capote vs the Swans tells the story behind Answered Prayers, the never-finished gossip novel that made its author a social pariah. But what was in the book – and was it any good?
What does capitalism do to our ability to connect with other people? Lydia Davis’ stories suggest it hollows out our words – but that the exaltation of the ordinary can connect us.
Let Us Descend is concerned with the neglected lives of the the poor, the despised, the dark, those barely scraping a living, but cannot capture the collective experience of slavery.
This course beckons students to examine how alcoholic beverages are portrayed in books by American authors.
Crook Manifesto confounds expectations only insofar as it is unprecedented for Colson Whitehead to repeat himself.
Cormac McCarthy, who has died aged 89, was a major American writer with a distinctive voice. In McCarthy’s world, war and violence are primordial realities.
Four years after his death, Harold Bloom continues to loom large over American literature, but his signature work has been less influential in the field of literary studies.
In her latest novel, Emma Cline depicts a world of unthinking privilege.
The outrage misdirected at Lolita – and its author – does nothing to negate the realities it reflects. Reading Nabokov’s novel now raises questions about censorship, book banning and human nature.
Jean Toomer’s novel is a visionary masterpiece and one of the most influential works of African American modernism.
These new witches are rarely comparable to traditional dirty hags. The new witch is often beautiful, at once dark, gothic, ethereal and wild.
Short-circuiting the language of literary value, permanently wrongfooting the custodians of taste, Gravity’s Rainbow proposes a new way of thinking about what we treasure most.
Bringing colour and emotional depth, Baunbach’s adaptation is a good companion to DeLillo’s searing novel.
At nearly 90 years of age, Cormac McCarthy is striking out in new artistic directions.
George Saunders has described short stories as ‘thrill-producing machines’, but his latest collection is hit and miss.
The Gothic horrorshow of Ottessa Moshfegh’s latest novel has sharply divided critical opinion.
Thoreau thought commerce destroyed moral freedom. A true “economy”, he argued, would lead to ecological and social flourishing for humans and for all beings.
In her latest book, the Pulitzer Prize winning author suggests how the 21st century novel might renew itself.
Melville’s epic novel about life aboard a wayward whaling ship holds lessons for the climate crisis today.
Top contributors
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Lecturer in English Literature, Adelaide University
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Lecturer in Literary Studies, Monash University
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Professor of English, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, ACU, Australian Catholic University
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Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney
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Senior Lecturer, Writing, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology
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Jury Professor of English and Language and Literature, Adelaide University
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Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Film, Loughborough University
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Professor of Contemporary Literature, University of Reading
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Professor of History and American Studies, Cornell University
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Professor of Philosophy and Intellectual History
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Lecturer in English Literature, Bath Spa University
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Professor in English Literature, University of Essex
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Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
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Senior Lecturer, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University
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Senior Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture, Newcastle University