Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CAPONEU (The Cartography of the Political Novel in Europe)
Período documentado: 2024-02-01 hasta 2025-04-30
CAPONEU examines how people in different national and cultural contexts engage with contemporary political issues and thereby participate in shaping contemporary European societies and politics. The aim is to assess the political novel in Europe (PNE) as an important element of European political, social and cultural heritage and as a tool for community building and European advocacy. CAPONEU brings together an interdisciplinary research team (history, sociology of literature and education, literary and cultural studies, political theory) dedicated to examining how the PNE is perceived in different contexts, how it contributes to the understanding of local and global politics (values, norms, traditions, beliefs, mentalities) and how it can be used as a means to experience, question and promote European local and global politics.
As the European project has been destabilised by crises (economic, political, migration, public health, climate, war) in recent decades, the question is how the PNE can become an active tool to influence people’s perceptions and strengthen societies' resilience to crises (HE Work Programme 2021–2022).
CAPONEU has five objectives:
1. to select a representative PNE corpus and examine how PN as a literary genre shapes and changes perceptions defined by beliefs, values, traditions, history, economy, culture, age, gender, environment, illnesses and wars.
2. to question how PNE as a social phenomenon shapes and changes people’s relationship to Europe’s historical and cultural past.
3. to explore how the perceptions documented and formed by the selected PNEs shape contemporary responses to the European project.
4. to investigate how the perceptions formed by the examined PNEs influence society’s resilience during crises.
5. to develop and publish policy recommendations and materials for formal and non-formal education focussing on political education, community building and European advocacy. CAPONEU’s research and innovation activities develop in continuous exchange with a series of stakeholders and business partners. These two dimensions make the project particularly innovative: not only its research topic (the neglected heritage of the PNE), but also its bifurcated practices through which its research findings are activated and re-integrated into research and policymaking.
CAPONEU’s research and innovation activities develop in constant dialogue with a range of stakeholders and business partners. These two dimensions make the project particularly innovative: not only its research topic (the neglected heritage of the PNE), but also its bifurcated practices through which its research results are activated and integrated into research and policy-making.
As the European project has been destabilised by crises (economic, political, migration, public health, climate, war) in recent decades, the question is how the PNE can become an active tool to influence people’s perceptions and strengthen societies' resilience to crises (HE Work Programme 2021–2022).
CAPONEU has five objectives:
1. to select a representative PNE corpus and examine how PN as a literary genre shapes and changes perceptions defined by beliefs, values, traditions, history, economy, culture, age, gender, environment, illnesses and wars.
2. to question how PNE as a social phenomenon shapes and changes people’s relationship to Europe’s historical and cultural past.
3. to explore how the perceptions documented and formed by the selected PNEs shape contemporary responses to the European project.
4. to investigate how the perceptions formed by the examined PNEs influence society’s resilience during crises.
5. to develop and publish policy recommendations and materials for formal and non-formal education focussing on political education, community building and European advocacy. CAPONEU’s research and innovation activities develop in continuous exchange with a series of stakeholders and business partners. These two dimensions make the project particularly innovative: not only its research topic (the neglected heritage of the PNE), but also its bifurcated practices through which its research findings are activated and re-integrated into research and policymaking.
CAPONEU’s research and innovation activities develop in constant dialogue with a range of stakeholders and business partners. These two dimensions make the project particularly innovative: not only its research topic (the neglected heritage of the PNE), but also its bifurcated practices through which its research results are activated and integrated into research and policy-making.
T1.1.1: Political Novel in Historiographical and Sociological Perspective; edited volume set for ORE.
T1.1.2: The Political Novel through the Lens of Gender; 15 lectures + roundtable; volume set for ORE.
T1.2: Feminist Book Club met monthly in 2024/25.
T1.3: Three monographs underway (Protrka Štimec, Duda, Dakić).
WP2
T2.1: Edited volume from 1st annual conference (What is the Political Novel?) set for ORE.
T2.2: Collective monograph by GWZ in progress.
T2.3.1: Workshop European Centres and Peripheries; papers published on CDP.
T2.3.2: Workshop The Political Novel & Digital Era held; articles being collected.
WP3
T3.1: Edited volume from workshop Thinking the Political submitted to OLH; second volume in preparation.
T3.2: Second annual conference hosted by UoB (Sep 2024); edited volume in prep.
T3.3: Collaborative workshops with novelists on literature and politics
T3.4: Two Research-to-Impact workshops (UoB + Autonomy); D8 policy recommendations published on CDP.
T3.5: Brick Dust by Craig Jordan-Baker completed; publication due 09/2025.
WP4
T4.1: Second Book Club season launched (Oct 2024, Brecht-Haus); monthly meetings.
T4.3: Monograph Rule and Resistance in progress (Ivana Perica).
WP5
T5.1.1: Workshop Political Novel & Migration/Exile with Migrant Info Point; edited volume in prep; 4 podcasts online.
T5.1.2: CFP launched for workshop Class Distinctions (Poznań, Nov 2025); submissions received.
T5.2: Final conference planned for April 2026 in Poznań.
WP6
T6.1: Workshop Political Novel in Reading Groups; trial group formed; resources developed.
T6.2: Two monographs in progress (Windsor, Woodford).
WP7
T7.1: Reading list analysis (5 countries): male-dominated canon authors; CSOs included more feminist & contemporary works.
WP8
T8.1: Reading Outside the Canon group launched; 3 sessions held.
T8.4: Workshop Dystopian Narratives & Illness (Apr 2025); ORE publication planned end of 2025.
WP9
T9.1: CDE Plan Phase II submitted; stronger social media presence.
T9.2: CDP upgraded (search, maps, editorial tools).
T9.3–T9.7: Reports, transcripts, recordings, 60 portraits, and podcasts archived; all contribute to D9.3/D12.
T1.1.2: The Political Novel through the Lens of Gender; 15 lectures + roundtable; volume set for ORE.
T1.2: Feminist Book Club met monthly in 2024/25.
T1.3: Three monographs underway (Protrka Štimec, Duda, Dakić).
WP2
T2.1: Edited volume from 1st annual conference (What is the Political Novel?) set for ORE.
T2.2: Collective monograph by GWZ in progress.
T2.3.1: Workshop European Centres and Peripheries; papers published on CDP.
T2.3.2: Workshop The Political Novel & Digital Era held; articles being collected.
WP3
T3.1: Edited volume from workshop Thinking the Political submitted to OLH; second volume in preparation.
T3.2: Second annual conference hosted by UoB (Sep 2024); edited volume in prep.
T3.3: Collaborative workshops with novelists on literature and politics
T3.4: Two Research-to-Impact workshops (UoB + Autonomy); D8 policy recommendations published on CDP.
T3.5: Brick Dust by Craig Jordan-Baker completed; publication due 09/2025.
WP4
T4.1: Second Book Club season launched (Oct 2024, Brecht-Haus); monthly meetings.
T4.3: Monograph Rule and Resistance in progress (Ivana Perica).
WP5
T5.1.1: Workshop Political Novel & Migration/Exile with Migrant Info Point; edited volume in prep; 4 podcasts online.
T5.1.2: CFP launched for workshop Class Distinctions (Poznań, Nov 2025); submissions received.
T5.2: Final conference planned for April 2026 in Poznań.
WP6
T6.1: Workshop Political Novel in Reading Groups; trial group formed; resources developed.
T6.2: Two monographs in progress (Windsor, Woodford).
WP7
T7.1: Reading list analysis (5 countries): male-dominated canon authors; CSOs included more feminist & contemporary works.
WP8
T8.1: Reading Outside the Canon group launched; 3 sessions held.
T8.4: Workshop Dystopian Narratives & Illness (Apr 2025); ORE publication planned end of 2025.
WP9
T9.1: CDE Plan Phase II submitted; stronger social media presence.
T9.2: CDP upgraded (search, maps, editorial tools).
T9.3–T9.7: Reports, transcripts, recordings, 60 portraits, and podcasts archived; all contribute to D9.3/D12.
The EC’s financial support for the implementation and coordination of the CAPONEU project served as a direct catalyst for the establishment of the Centre for Theoretical Research in the Humanities (CTIH) at the FFZG. As a newly established organisational unit, the CTIH will ensure the long-term sustainability of the project results beyond its official duration. This will be achieved through the management and development of the CAPONEU digital platform (T9.2) the continued publication of the interdisciplinary academic journal Politics and Fiction (T9.8) the organisation of the Summer School Literature and Society (T8.2) and the continuation of the discussion group Reading outside the Canon (T8.1). A key challenge is securing ongoing financial support for these activities. In the second reporting period, CTIH members submitted applications for a total of five calls for project funding, and further applications are currently being prepared.