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Mr Anthony Fothergill

Honorary University Fellow

Research interests

Wilde; Conrad; literary and cultural theory; modern and contemporary fiction and poetry.

Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture

The focus of my intellectual and research interests is modern (mainly English and European) literature, cultural history, and contemporary theory. This focus, along with my commitment to the crucial link between research and teaching in English studies, is expressed in my first book, on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (Open University Press, 1989), a study of the novel in light of contemporary theory, intended to challenge both scholars and serious students (of any age).

My current, interdisciplinary, research concentrates on Conrad and Germany and the politics of cultural reception. The first part of the book considers (the Polish-English) Conrad's own cultural reception of Germany , arguing that his sometimes explicit anti-German political and literary writings need to be set against his actual and positive embracing of nineteenth-century Germany culture. The second part of the book considers Germany 's cultural reception of Conrad, especially in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. I argue that the popularity of Conrad's stories during that period stems from his being construed as a cosmopolitan, anti-fascist liberal voice. Theoretical approaches to modern cultural exchange and 'translation' are central to my concerns.

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