Methodologies of Economic Criticism

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Joanna Rostek
• Subject Area: European and American Literary and Cultural Studies
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 444298317

The network "Methodologies of Economic Criticism" will systematise, compare and evaluate the diverse and partially overlapping methodologies within English Studies that constitute the burgeoning, yet still inchoate field of Economic Criticism – an interdisciplinary research area that explores the various interconnections, past and present, between literature, culture, the economy and economics. As a reaction to the financial crisis of 2007/8 and global challenges with clear links to the economy (e.g. climate change, economic inequalities, automation, digitalisation, migration), Economic Criticism is currently flourishing in English Studies and the humanities more broadly. Despite an outpouring of publications, however, a decidedly methodological approach to analysing literature, culture and the economy is still missing. The network will fill this research gap by uniting scholars from three German-speaking countries, who have longstanding expertise in different approaches to Economic Criticism and who represent four sub-disciplines of English Studies. As its main goal, the ‘intra-interdisciplinary’ network will jointly develop and publish a "Handbook: Methodologies of Economic Criticism" providing a comprehensive, critical and historically informed overview of established and innovative analytical tools for scrutinising economic concerns with the means provided by (Anglophone) literary studies, cultural studies and postcolonial studies. A second goal is to implement the findings into academic teaching, by developing a set of teaching materials on Economic Criticism for tertiary education. For this purpose, the network also includes members with a background in didactics.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks