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Project

Telling Lists: A Dynamic Study of the Nature and Function of Literary Lists.

This project is developed against the background of 'Literature and Knowledge Studies'. Its starting point is a two-fold observation: (1) modern science and the novel originated in the same period (2) the legitimation of the modern novel partly depended on its function as a carrier of (popularized scientific) knowledge. This interaction between fiction and science/ knowledge has typically been studied from a discursive point of view (digression v. narration) and from an encyclopedic standpoint (by looking e.g. at archives and databases in the novel). The present proposal unites these approaches by looking at the literary list, a relatively simple encyclopedic device that digresses from the narrative. The project will analyze literary lists in 12 modern novels (1860-2010) by looking at (1) the form and content of the lists in isolation; (2) the function of the lists within the fictional, narrative context and the factual, referential context; (3) the evolution in content, form, and function of lists between 1860-2010. The research result consists of a reading model that enables us to interpret lists and that takes into account the historical developments of the novel as a genre. In addition, it elucidates the workings of the list, which is not only one of the most central techniques used by mankind to organize knowledge, but also one of the most ubiquitous techniques of description in the novel.

Date:1 Jan 2015 →  31 Dec 2018
Keywords:Lijsten vertellen
Disciplines:Theory and methodology of literary studies