Book Launch: "Between Novel and Network" by Suzanne R. Black

The internet has enabled new forms of literature and challenged older forms to reinvent themselves. selects texts that exemplify these digital transformations, arguing that networked communication technologies have fundamentally altered the form and content of contemporary literature. The book begins by exploring digital fanfiction as a site of literary resistance and a form of literature that can only exist in the age of networked communications. Next it examines epistolary fiction, where networked digital literature offers a different mode of subjectivity than that associated with the traditional novel. Finally, the book addresses two novels that incorporate aspects of networked literatures (fanfiction and comic books) to stake a claim for their enduring primacy as a literary form.
Between Novel and Network adds to conversations about how networked communication technologies affect literary form, content, metaphors, and reception. Readers will trace how concepts such as authorship, originality, intertextuality, and literary value play out across the digital literary sphere. As well as building upon the place of fanfiction in the literary field, Suzanne R. Black also offers a reappraisal of the place and characteristics of the novel in the twenty-first century as part of a larger literary ecosystem.

The book launch will be followed by a drinks reception. To attend virtually rather than in-person, please click here for Teams Webinar registration.

Dr Suzanne R Black is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh. She received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh with doctoral work examining the interconnections of a range of literatures in the twenty-first century digital literary sphere. Her research interests lie in digital literary culture and the development of data-led approaches to contemporary fiction and fanfiction. She has published in Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture and Transformative Works and Cultures.

This is a free event, which means we overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid empty seats. While we generally do not have to turn people away, this does mean we cannot guarantee everyone a place. Admission is on a first come, first served basis.

Accessibility:

This event will take place at IASH, 2 Hope Park Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW. Please see a map here: https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/location

The Seminar Room is on the first floor, and unfortunately IASH does not have a lift. If you have mobility issues and would like to discuss access, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Please note that this event runs from 17:00 BST.

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Host or Publisher Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities