Novels, poems, and plays shape our perceptions and affect our lived experience of spaces like nation, wilderness or the body. These spaces are contested in our current context and have been for centuries. If students choose the Literature and Contested Spaces track, they will examine the roles that literary texts play in the representation and shaping of contested spaces. In your seminars, tutorials, and individual research projects, students will explore how literary texts have played a role in forming our experience of such spaces. During your study program, students will pursue the ways in which literary representations interact with real or imagined spaces, geographies, and ecosystems. Students will focus on literature and three kinds of contested space: the (trans)national, the environment, and the body.
The track is ideal for students who are keen to hone their critical thinking and research skills in this area; they’ll get the chance to pursue their research interests under the guidance of specialists in the field. Plus, the track’s involvement in environmental humanities makes it unique in the Netherlands.
