Current Projects

My research projects focus primarily on the social role of literature and literature as a form of knowledge. Below are brief descriptions of some of the larger projects I am currently working on.

“Imagining Communities, Multilingually”

Together with Prof. Nicoletta Pireddu (Georgetown University), I am editing a special issue on Benedict Anderson’s notion of “imagined communities” and questions of language and multilingualism. Can we decouple the idea of an imagined community from the monolingual nation-state? Can the imagination be multilingual? Can multilingual communities be imagined?

The special issue is due to appear with the journal parallax in Winter 2022/2023.

“The Cultural Deliberation of Europe”

Together with Prof. Margriet van der Waal (University of Groningen), I am in the early stages of a special issue proposal that inquiries into the specific contribution of literature, culture, and the arts to discussions of matters of common concern in Europe. How do novels, films, festivals, and so on contribute to the construction of a European public sphere? How can we measure and conceptualize “Europeanness” here: is “Europe” more than the sum of its various national constituent parts?

The special issue is due to appear with Continuum late this year or early next year.

“To Be–Named: Across Borders”

Together with Dr Gwyneira Isaac, Dr Genner Llanes Ortiz, and Prof. Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, all from the CoLing project, I am working on a special issue on personal narratives and names. Specifically, we are interested in how such narratives cross borders, be they linguistic, cultural, temporal, spatial, religious, gendered, sexed, and so on, and how the personal dimension speaks to a larger political dimension.

We are currently preparing the proposal, to be submitted with a journal in Fall 2022.

“Perspectives on Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet”

Together with Dr Agnes Andeweg (Utrecht University), I am in the early stages of a special issue dedicated to British writer Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet (2016-20). We think this experimental set of novels necessitates close critical attention from a range of perspectives.

The special issue is due to appear with C21 Literature late this year or early next year.