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Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

A must-read for all students of A level and undergraduate English Literature courses
Wide appeal for the general reader in reading groups
Considers the impact of technology on contemporary fiction
Explores the changing nature of fiction in a globalized world

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Description

Contemporary fiction is a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow at a fantastic speed.

In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction. From genre, form, and experimentalism to the legacies of modernism and postmodernism, the relationship between globalization and terrorism, and the impact of technology, Eaglestone examines how works both reflect the world in which we live and the artistic concerns of writers and readers alike.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

Author Information

Robert Eaglestone, Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London

Robert Eaglestone is Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is Deputy Director (and formerly Director) of the Holocaust Research Centre. His research interests are in contemporary literature and literary theory, contemporary philosophy, and on Holocaust and genocide studies. He is the author of Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students (third revised edition) (Routledge, 2009).

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

Reviews and Awards

"A very interesting little book." - Lisa Hill, AMZ LitLovers LitBlog

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

From Our Blog

Writing as technology

In honor of the beginning of National Library Week this Sunday, 13 April 2014, we're sharing this interesting excerpt from Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction. As technology continues to evolve, the way we access books and information is changing, and libraries are continuously working to keep up-to-date with the latest resources available. In this excerpt, Robert Eaglestone presents the idea of the seemingly simple act of writing as a form of technology.

Posted on April 11, 2014

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On the Man Booker Prize 2013 shortlist

By Robert Eaglestone So here's the first thing about the books on the Booker Prize lists, both short and long: until the end of August, it was hard-to-impossible to get hold of most of them. Only one was in paperback in July (well done, Canongate). And while some were in very pricey hardback, several hadn't even been published. This begs the question: who is the Booker Prize for?

Posted on September 13, 2013

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Book groups and the latest 'it' novel

Robert Eaglestone I've never been to a book group (although I was once invited to a Dad's 'Listening to the Album of the Month with Beer' club) but I've always been afraid that it would be a bit of a busman's holiday for me, or, worse, that ' because I'm basically a teacher ' it would turn me into the sort of terribly bossy know-it-all you don't want drinking your nicely chilled wine. That said, I often get asked to recommend the current 'it' novel for book groups.

Posted on July 12, 2013

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Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

Video

Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction

Robert Eaglestone

Very Short Introductions

Reading Guide

PDF download Download this VSI Reading Guide as an Adobe PDF (28 KB)

Questions for Thought and Discussion

In the introduction, I say that I think that novels are the closest art form to us (because they use only language, like us, because they tell stories, as we do, and because they are so ‘immersive’: we ‘lose ourselves in a book’). Is this right? Are (for example) computer games more immersive? Do we lose ourselves in films?
What does it mean, to ‘know about’ a novel? To know facts about an author? To know how you feel about it? To summarise the plot?Ã‚Â
I argued that there was no one definition of the novel that covered all cases. What does this mean?
Novels used to be thought of as embodying ‘national traditions’ (English, American, Indian). Is this still so? Was it ever the case?
What do you think is the ‘next big thing’ in fiction?
Why is ‘realism’ so pervasive in our culture?
Closure is what Frank Kermode, one of the leading literary critics of the twentieth century, called the ‘sense of an ending’ and he argued that it was one of the most important and enduring features of fiction. Why? What happens when ‘the last page is missing’?
Do you enjoy – or not enjoy – ‘postmodern’ novels? Why? Why not?
I’ve suggested that there are three linked ‘waves’ going on in contemporary fiction: a sort of tamed ‘postmodernism’; a return to experimental modernism; and a response to ‘reality hunger’? What novels have you read that meet (or challenge) these categories?
How important is a ‘family tree’ of novels to an author? Which writers does the novel you are reading now imitate or ignore?
Imagine writing a cook book with a plot. How might that work? Imagine writing a hardboiled detective plot in a ‘Mills and Boon’ style. Play with genres.
Many people used to think ‘genre’ fiction was worse than literary fiction. This view is now very dated. What do you think? I argue that there is something special and ‘open’ about literary fiction.Ã‚Â What do you think?
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past”: much contemporary fiction explores very different ways in which this is true. What novels you’ve read do this?
Do you read historical fiction for the story (although you already know what happens?) or for the history? Or does this distinction not really matter?
Have you read War and Peace? Ignore the all the people saying you should (and implying it’s very hard) and read it anyway. It’s a masterpiece. It took me three months to get to page 80 but after that I literally couldn’t put it down (I read it secretly at work when I was supposed to be, er, working). Same for Middlemarch, incidentally.
Are historical novels always anachronistic? Does it matter? Does it matter in some cases and not in others?
How do historical novels relate to ‘public memory’? Are we remembering the First World War or novels about the First World War?
What do novels teach us about the present? Can any novel really be a ‘State of the Nation’ novel in a ‘globalised’ world?
How successfully do novels deal with terrorism? With ‘endless war’? With 9/11?Ã‚Â With contemporary evil?
Novels offer different views about religion. They also seem to offer different experiences of religion. How do they contrast and why?
I’ve suggested that much contemporary fiction realises that “brutality is brutality and excess is excess and that’s all there is to it” and, rather than imagining it can save the world, demonstrates a sort of humility in the face of terrible events. What do you think?
Is ‘science fiction’ just like ‘historical fiction’ but, as it were, the other way around?
Lots of fiction about the future is very grim. Why?
We made technology: but technology also made us. Did it?
Is what an author thinks important in shaping your opinion of their work?
Do ‘academic literary critics’ kill “everything they touch”? Why?
Should criticism be more personal?
“To enjoy art one needs time, patience, and a generous heart, and criticism is done, by and large, by impatient people who have axes to grind. The worst sort of critics are (analogy coming) butterfly collectors - they chase something, ostensibly out of their search for beauty, then, once they get close, they catch that beautiful something, they kill it, they stick a pin through its abdomen, dissect it and label it. The whole process, I find, is not a happy or healthy one”. What should criticism do?

Other publications by Robert Eaglestone

Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Literary and Cultural Theory Volume 2 (1996 to Present Day) [Editor] (Blackwell, 2010)
Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students 3rd Ed. (Routledge, 2009)
J.M. Coetzee in Context and Theory [Co-editor, with Elleke Boehmer and Katy Iddiols] (Continuum, 2009)
Legacies of Derrida: Literature and Philosophy [Co-editor, with Simon Glendinning] (Routledge, 2008)
Teaching Holocaust Literature and Film [Co-editor, with Barry Langford] (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
Reading The Lord of the Rings (Continuum, 2005)
Postmodernism and Holocaust Denial (Icon Books, 2001)
Ethical Criticism: Reading After Levinas (Edinburgh University Press, 1997)