Zoom-link:
https://hiof.zoom.us/j/67451686458?pwd=VmIh1og0r8EpaAz6gvuGdWhO3XFFEx.1
Pieter Vermeulen works in the fields of contemporary literature, world literature, and the environmental humanities, and also publishes in the domains of memory studies and the medical humanities. He is the author of a large number om articles and books on these subjects, as Literature and the Anthropocene (2020, Routledge), see http://www.pvermeulen.com
Vermeulen will start by giving a report from a recent conference on “Literature and Ethics in a Time of Crisis” in Stockholm. This is what he says about the conference and the subject of his talk:
"The kind of ethics that was foregrounded there was more about sustainability, maintaining relations, preservation, ...about elements that resist the emergency of crisis. I want to link that to recent developments in literary studies (especially in the work of someone like Caroline Levine) that emphasize continuities, constructions, institutions, … rather than the drama of crisis. I could illustrate this tendency with three themes I have worked on: in the case of dementia fiction, the emphasis on welfare institutions as crucial for preserving vulnerable lives; in the context of the Anthropocene, the role of infrastructure in preserving what we find valuable; and in the context of the current social role of literature, particular rhetorical strategies that maintain the distinctiveness of literature."
Contact person: Annika Mörte Alling (annika.m.alling@hiof.no)