LES 1 – 12/02/2026
- The 21st century -> the current century
▪ A lot of challenges with reading older books
▪ what the hell is going on, hard English
▪ feels disconnected
o Our challenge now
▪ trying to understand events/culture, while its evolving
▪ feels too close
▪ how do we draw shape -> when we’re in it
▪ We need to be the first interpreters
• This is not the case for Shakespeare’s work
o E.g. Joshua Miller - introduction
▪ Do we know the objects of study too well?
▪ Or can we not know what they mean until later?
▪ Do we need to process what happened, needs time?
o E.g. Giorgio Agamben - what is the Contemporary
▪ Philosopher
▪ Contemporary = recent to us, in time
▪ ‘Those who are truly contemporary, those who truly belong to their
time, are those who neither perfectly coincide with it nor adjust
themselves to its demands’
• = You are truly contemporary if you don’t exactly fit your era,
and you don’t try to adjust yourself to it
• A part of, but also a part from their era
• They are more capable of understanding and grasping their
own time
• This is what we’ll have to do
o A part of our century, but also a part from our century
o So, we can interpret as good as possible
- When is the 21st century?
o 2000-2099
o When did the present literary or cultural era begin?
o Certain events that rocked the world:
▪ 9/11 = “start” of the century
▪ Islamophobia
, ▪ Responses to immigration
▪ Shapes the world, we deal with the consequences
o However, we also live in emotion environmental environments ->
charismatic figures
▪ Vampires, werewolves, zombies,…
▪ Cultural phenomenon also can change an era! -> not only events
(e.g. 9/11)
▪ Not just an isolated fandom
- 21st century inquiries
o What is the status from pomo?
▪ Pomo no more?
o How do authors express identity?
▪ We’ve seen disabled, black writers,…
▪ It’s the time -> more voice, more writers
o How do technologies & media affect literary form, become the theme
& shape the way we read
▪ Online chat rooms, audio-books,…
▪ Stories that start from twitter
▪ AI? New era because of this? Will it shape literature?
o How do writers deal with past & unfolding issues of: racism,
environmental & climate crisis, poverty & precarity, anxiety
▪ All these -> have been topics for liteature
▪ And will continue in this century
o How do they deal with scale
▪ E.g. Climate scale -> makes us think about vast, temporal & spacial
scales
▪ E.g our bodies vs our planet
▪ This has heightened in this century
• Bc -> we have access to other times & places
• Different understanding of global phenomena
o What’s the relationship between ‘high’/literary & ‘low’/genre
▪ Different boundary between high & low -> becomes undone
, ▪ Many writers who started in a more realist vain, started writing in
different genres
▪ A range of genres
▪ Do we let go of these ‘low’ & ‘high’ categories?
- Zadie Smith
o Writing novels since 1990
o From London, Wilesden –> most books are set here
o Known for rich portrays of the places in her novel -> often where she has
lived
o Often uses mix-raced characters, a multicultural writer
o Professor of creative writing in NYC
- Zadie Smith – White teeth
o Written when she was in university, 22
o A hugely anticipated book, got a lot of money in advance
o Came out in 2000
o Came out before 9/11 -> ‘The last great novel before 9/11, the switch’
▪ But already thinks about issues around this
▪ She thinks about the burden of history -> is history traveling with
us? E.g. legacy of colonialism
▪ She does it with a lot of humor
- Recording from White Teeth
o She talks about the varieties of background of her characters -> yet, she
wants to think about the sharedness across these differences
o She thinks about nature vs nurture
▪ How much is because of DNA? How much is variable across
different populations? How much is variable based on an
individual?
▪ How much is structured by the family she comes from? How much
comes from her?
▪ How does she negotiate these different influences?
- Video from White Teeth
o She believes the book is for the young people
o She cannot really identify anymore with her own work
o She wonders if she was too young to write a novel at that age
o Everything about people interests her
, o She becomes part of an industry -> she’s supposed to be a literary
celebrity
▪ Takes different form in this industry, visibility
LES 2 – 19/02/2026
- When is the 21st century?
o Miller, Introduction
o He thinks about the problem -> determining our era
▪ There’s so many urgent crises that have unknowable ends
▪ Miller lists ongoing crises: climate change, labor, economy, white
supremacy
▪ These are not explicitly cultural forces
• But they indicate that -> authors and critics don’t believe
that art = autonomous
• Literature is embedded in these crises
o We don’t know the status of the future
▪ Do we have a future? Who is going to determine it?
▪ Urgent questions in this century
▪ The present has become overwhelming
- White teeth
o Comes out at 2000
o Hovering around issues from the millennial
▪ E.g. It’s looking at genetic engineering -> taking off in the beginning
of that century -> is this going to shape our idea of a human? ->
opening pandora’s box?
▪ E.g. forming families after travelling (migration) -> how is that going
to shape a nation, and the culture
▪ How much is determined by where you came from. How much free
will do we have?
➔ How can we shape the future instead of being
shaped by the past.
- Loudness
o She thinks the book is ‘too busy’
o There is a lot that goes on in this book
▪ We meet a lot of characters, from different origins
- The 21st century -> the current century
▪ A lot of challenges with reading older books
▪ what the hell is going on, hard English
▪ feels disconnected
o Our challenge now
▪ trying to understand events/culture, while its evolving
▪ feels too close
▪ how do we draw shape -> when we’re in it
▪ We need to be the first interpreters
• This is not the case for Shakespeare’s work
o E.g. Joshua Miller - introduction
▪ Do we know the objects of study too well?
▪ Or can we not know what they mean until later?
▪ Do we need to process what happened, needs time?
o E.g. Giorgio Agamben - what is the Contemporary
▪ Philosopher
▪ Contemporary = recent to us, in time
▪ ‘Those who are truly contemporary, those who truly belong to their
time, are those who neither perfectly coincide with it nor adjust
themselves to its demands’
• = You are truly contemporary if you don’t exactly fit your era,
and you don’t try to adjust yourself to it
• A part of, but also a part from their era
• They are more capable of understanding and grasping their
own time
• This is what we’ll have to do
o A part of our century, but also a part from our century
o So, we can interpret as good as possible
- When is the 21st century?
o 2000-2099
o When did the present literary or cultural era begin?
o Certain events that rocked the world:
▪ 9/11 = “start” of the century
▪ Islamophobia
, ▪ Responses to immigration
▪ Shapes the world, we deal with the consequences
o However, we also live in emotion environmental environments ->
charismatic figures
▪ Vampires, werewolves, zombies,…
▪ Cultural phenomenon also can change an era! -> not only events
(e.g. 9/11)
▪ Not just an isolated fandom
- 21st century inquiries
o What is the status from pomo?
▪ Pomo no more?
o How do authors express identity?
▪ We’ve seen disabled, black writers,…
▪ It’s the time -> more voice, more writers
o How do technologies & media affect literary form, become the theme
& shape the way we read
▪ Online chat rooms, audio-books,…
▪ Stories that start from twitter
▪ AI? New era because of this? Will it shape literature?
o How do writers deal with past & unfolding issues of: racism,
environmental & climate crisis, poverty & precarity, anxiety
▪ All these -> have been topics for liteature
▪ And will continue in this century
o How do they deal with scale
▪ E.g. Climate scale -> makes us think about vast, temporal & spacial
scales
▪ E.g our bodies vs our planet
▪ This has heightened in this century
• Bc -> we have access to other times & places
• Different understanding of global phenomena
o What’s the relationship between ‘high’/literary & ‘low’/genre
▪ Different boundary between high & low -> becomes undone
, ▪ Many writers who started in a more realist vain, started writing in
different genres
▪ A range of genres
▪ Do we let go of these ‘low’ & ‘high’ categories?
- Zadie Smith
o Writing novels since 1990
o From London, Wilesden –> most books are set here
o Known for rich portrays of the places in her novel -> often where she has
lived
o Often uses mix-raced characters, a multicultural writer
o Professor of creative writing in NYC
- Zadie Smith – White teeth
o Written when she was in university, 22
o A hugely anticipated book, got a lot of money in advance
o Came out in 2000
o Came out before 9/11 -> ‘The last great novel before 9/11, the switch’
▪ But already thinks about issues around this
▪ She thinks about the burden of history -> is history traveling with
us? E.g. legacy of colonialism
▪ She does it with a lot of humor
- Recording from White Teeth
o She talks about the varieties of background of her characters -> yet, she
wants to think about the sharedness across these differences
o She thinks about nature vs nurture
▪ How much is because of DNA? How much is variable across
different populations? How much is variable based on an
individual?
▪ How much is structured by the family she comes from? How much
comes from her?
▪ How does she negotiate these different influences?
- Video from White Teeth
o She believes the book is for the young people
o She cannot really identify anymore with her own work
o She wonders if she was too young to write a novel at that age
o Everything about people interests her
, o She becomes part of an industry -> she’s supposed to be a literary
celebrity
▪ Takes different form in this industry, visibility
LES 2 – 19/02/2026
- When is the 21st century?
o Miller, Introduction
o He thinks about the problem -> determining our era
▪ There’s so many urgent crises that have unknowable ends
▪ Miller lists ongoing crises: climate change, labor, economy, white
supremacy
▪ These are not explicitly cultural forces
• But they indicate that -> authors and critics don’t believe
that art = autonomous
• Literature is embedded in these crises
o We don’t know the status of the future
▪ Do we have a future? Who is going to determine it?
▪ Urgent questions in this century
▪ The present has become overwhelming
- White teeth
o Comes out at 2000
o Hovering around issues from the millennial
▪ E.g. It’s looking at genetic engineering -> taking off in the beginning
of that century -> is this going to shape our idea of a human? ->
opening pandora’s box?
▪ E.g. forming families after travelling (migration) -> how is that going
to shape a nation, and the culture
▪ How much is determined by where you came from. How much free
will do we have?
➔ How can we shape the future instead of being
shaped by the past.
- Loudness
o She thinks the book is ‘too busy’
o There is a lot that goes on in this book
▪ We meet a lot of characters, from different origins
