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Transhistorical tropes of female subordination

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Absent mothers in western literary tradition

An EU-funded project analysed the interchange between individuals who 'consume' the stories produced about their society, and the society producing them. The particular focus was on specific tropes in present-day fiction that relate to women and their subordination.

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The project 'Transhistorical tropes of female subordination' (TTFS) focused on the transhistorical literary tradition of dead and absent mothers. Data collection was carried out for the first three chapters of a planned monograph titled 'Dead and absent mothers in western literary tradition'. The submission of a full book proposal based on this preliminary work was planned, with a view to publication at a major publishing house. Project research resulted in a number of articles being prepared for publication in various journals, as well as a joint edited anthology that has already been accepted for publication. Other writing produced as a result of the TTFS study includes the introduction and one chapter in the anthology 'Over her dismembered body: The crime fiction of Mo Hayder and Jo Nesbø'. In parallel with project research, a conference was organised and successfully gathered participants from Bulgaria, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Research on the TTFS subject matter will continue beyond the project's EU-funded timeline. Presentations of the outcomes of project research at two conferences in the United States were given in early 2013.

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