Projektbeschreibung
Meritokratische Narrative in und durch Literatur erforschen
Soziale Narrative der Meritokratie sind in vielen literarischen und künstlerischen Formen zu finden. Sie kommen in Theaterstücken, Romanen, Reiseberichten, Filmen und künstlerischen Manifesten vor. Durch die Kolonialisierung und die Globalisierung wurden solche Narrative weit verbreitet, insbesondere im englischsprachigen Raum. Finanziert über den Europäischen Forschungsrat wird im Projekt MERLIT untersucht, wie meritokratische Narrative literarische Formen beeinflussten, und wie sie selbst durch literarische Formen verwandelt wurden. Die Forschenden prüfen, wie meritokratische Narrative geschrieben und kulturell verbreitet wurden und argumentieren, dass ihre Adaption in literarischen Formen einen Einblick in den „Geist“ einer bestimmten Zeit oder eines Umfelds gewähren. Das Ziel von MERLIT ist dabei, Veränderungen im Ausdruck von Wert, Verdienst und Erfolg zwischen dem 17. und 21. Jahrhundert zu erklären.
Ziel
MERLIT is the first systematic, diachronic and comparative investigation of meritocratic narratives in literature. Meritocratic thinking manifests itself in powerful narratives across the globe, from the constitutionally embedded “pursuit of happiness” to neoliberal narratives of self-enhancement. MERLIT investigates forms of these narratives, which are embraced for their seemingly empowering and universalist appeal, but also criticised for their enmeshment with structures of domination and privilege. MERLIT explores how meritocratic narratives are written, how they are written into cultures, but also how they are written back to in text forms that have shaped the zeitgeist of particular moments respectively. Although research into meritocratic thinking is a vibrant interdisciplinary field, it is characterised (1) by a lack of investigations into the formal principles underpinning – or challenging – meritocratic articulations, (2) by a narrow focus on (white) Western contexts and (3) by a concentration on recent developments. To counter these gaps, (1) MERLIT explores in six work packages how practices of writing have played, and continue to play, crucial roles in shaping meritocratic articulations but also critiques thereof; (2) MERLIT expands the contextual focus of existing scholarship by engaging with radical writing practices from the Global South and a range of transculturally entangled anglophone contexts; eventually, (3) MERLIT challenges perceptions of meritocratic thinking and its critiques as recent phenomena by engaging with changing forms of articulating value, merit and success from the 17th century to the present. Situated at the intersections of literary history, new formalist theory and cultural translation, MERLIT not only offers a literary history of meritocratic thought, but significantly advances our understanding of the workings of a set of hegemonic forms in and through writing, and of the formative, worldmaking role of literature.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsGastgebende Einrichtung
1050 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgien