Dr Andrew Webb
My research develops recent theories of international literary space, especially those of Pascale Casanova, Frederic Jameson and Franco Moretti, in order to explore the relation between literature and globalisation. I am interested in developing the theoretical tools to help us understand this relation, and I am concerned to show how these theories work in practice. I argue that, as a result of these critics' work, postcolonial studies and comparative literary study would each benefit from a 'world literature' turn. To date, my work has explored these ideas with regard to British literatures, as a way of challenging their often-assumed anglocentrism (although I am keen to extend this geographical interest). The tabs on the left of this page link to more detailed outlines of my work.
In May 2010, I gained my PhD from Warwick University where my studies were fully-funded by a Warwick Research Scholarship (equivalent to AHRC funding). Since April 2010, I have been an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study (also at Warwick). I am presently Postdoctoral Research Fellow to a group of scholars led by Professor Neil Lazarus who are developing a theoretical platform for world literary study based on the Marxist notion of 'combined and uneven development'. From October 2010, I will be taking up a temporary position in the English department at Swansea University.
My teaching experience includes guest-lecturing on Warwick's M.A. in Postcolonial Theory and the Honours-level course, 'Poetry after 1945'. I have also lectured on James Joyce and Edward Thomas for the first-year course 'Literature in the Modern World', and on W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Michael Field and Amy Levy for the Honours-level course, 'Romantic and Victorian Poetry'. My teaching at Warwick has also included three years' experience of running weekly seminars: for these courses, as well as for the Honours-level courses, 'U.S. Writing and Culture 1780-1920' and 'Practice of Poetry', and the first-year course, 'Modes of Reading', an introduction to literary theory.
Selected Refereed Publication:
Anglo-American anti-modernism: a transnational reading. European Journal of American Culture 28.2 (2009): 167-183.