Literature

At Mid Sweden University, comparative literary research is guided by the interests, competences and collaborations of the researchers. In other words, the subject research profile is a dynamic result of the activities of the individual researchers rather than the other way around. This also means that we tend to embrace diversity rather than priority areas.

Our environment is nonetheless characterised by a number of research areas that involve several researchers and continually generate publications. Notable areas include Ecocriticism, Critical Theory, Modern Poetry, Narratology & Theory of the Modern Novel, Autofiction, Didactics of Literature, Norrland Literature and Children’s Literature.

In practice, these areas often overlap. One example is the conference ‘Adorno and the Anthropocene’, which was held at the department in 2017 and subsequently resulted in an issue of the journal Adorno Studies 2019. It combined ecocriticism with critical theory in a way that benefited both fields. Two other examples are the anthologies Norrlandslitteratur: Ekokritiska perpektiv (2018) and Nordic Narratives of Nature and the Environment: Ecocritical Approaches to Northern European Literatures and Cultures (2018) in which the ecocritical perspective, as the titles suggest, converges with Norrland research, novel studies, etc.

As also indicated by these examples, the subject researchers publish, alternating between Swedish and English, in peer-reviewed journals and anthologies, depending on the subject and target group. Of the publications in recent years, it is worth noting the award-winning article ‘The Narrator Who Wasn’t There: Philip Roth’s The Human Stain and the Discontinuity of Narrating Characters’ (Narrative, 2008:1) and acclaimed books such as Tala för det gröna i lövet: Ekopoesi som estetik och aktivism (2018) and Det cyniska tillståndet (2018).

There is not yet a third-cycle programme for comparative literature at Mid Sweden University, but we nonetheless employ three doctoral students (formally affiliated with Åbo Akademi University and Umeå University). One project is about Lars Ahlin, one about Kerstin Ekman and one about affect and form in postmodern poetry. The presence of the doctoral students not only guarantees scientific regrowth but also brings ongoing research talks to life.

Comparative literature is a vibrant research environment, as can be seen in part in the number of publications. In recent years, we have also arranged symposia and seminar series dedicated to Picture Books, Fascism, Posthumanism, Attention and Sustainability. We regularly participate in international conferences and have developed research collaborations with institutions in Finland, Denmark, Norway, England and Germany.

Although the research in the subject has a clear comparative literature profile, we often collaborate with researchers from other subjects, mainly at our own department but also at other faculties and higher education institutions. One example is a recently completed project that examined the picture book as a tool for intercultural understanding in a multicultural preschool. Another is the (also completed) project ‘Normalization and the Neoliberal Welfare State. Challenges of and for Gender Theory’ funded by the Swedish Research Council.