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The Pluralisation of English Literatures: Canadian and New Zealand Writings

November 4th, 2013

Over the last decades, English Studies has experienced an increasing openness towards cultures and research topics that reach from beyond the borders of the UK and the US. Still, most so-called New English or Anglophone Literatures have not (yet) entered the canon. In our lecture we want to give an overview of literatures and literary developments outside of the USA and Great Britain.
We will explore the concepts of colonial and postcolonial theory and apply them to fictional writings from Canada and New Zealand. In addition, we will illustrate the diverse literary landscapes of Canada and New Zealand and look at the historical developments of indigenous and non-indigenous writings.

Lisa Bach studied Teaching German and English as a Foreign Language at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen. Since October 2012, she has been a PhD student at the International PhD Program "Literary and Cultural Studies" (IPP) at Justus-Liebig-University. Her dissertation project "Mapping Intersectional Spaces. Narratological Perspectives on Intersectionality and Space in Contemporary Indigenous Literatures" explores indigenous fiction from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Julia Michael holds an M.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Greifswald. She studied at the University of Lancaster, GB and conducted research for her M.A. thesis on "Mennonite Writing in Canada" at the University of Manitoba. She is now a doctoral student at the University of Giessen. For her dissertation she has chosen to focus on "The Construction of Minorities in Mennonite Writing in Canada."