This symposium examines how periodisation, ageing and generational thinking shape our understanding of literary history. It will address how categorising individuals by period or movement shapes perceptions of their relevance, timeliness, and value, and how biases like ageism play a role. We consider how different genres, forms, and archives reveal the complexities of literary generations and explore the impact of periodisation on research and teaching practices.
Confirmed speakers:
- David Amigoni (Keele) – 'What to do with a young late stylist? Structures of generational feeling and age autobiography in Paul Bailey's At the Jerusalem (1967)'
- Fatima Borrman (KU Leuven) – 'Imagining Grandmama: Skipping a Generation in Women’s Fiction'
- Helen Kingstone (Royal Holloway) – 'Ageing and generations, between sociology and Victorian literature'
- Helen Small (Oxford) – 'The Concept of the New across Generations’
Organised by: Jade French and Sarah Parker
Arrivals from 12:45 am for a 1:00 pm start.
International House can be found here on the campus map.
If these in-person tickets have sold out, you can still join online by registering for the Zoom Webinar.
