---
layout: post
status: publish
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title: Day 2 of Twenty-First-Century Literature Conference at Birkbeck

wordpress_id: 2106
wordpress_url: https://www.martineve.com/?p=2106
date: !binary |-
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categories:
- Literature
- Conferences
- Academia
tags:
- Literature
- academia
- c21symp
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---
<p>I just realised that I forgot to Storify my live tweets from day 2 of this conference... enjoy!</p>
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<h1>Day 2 of Twenty-First-Century British Fiction Symposium</h1>
<h2></h2>
<p>Storified by Martin Eve &middot; Mon, May 21 2012 06:15:47</p>
<div>Asks: what is the value of scarcity, and what about the scarcity of value? #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>just saw all the tweetting work @martin_eve did at #c21symp last weekend. Nice!Kaja Marczewska</div>
<div>@CAPittard @afrayn had discussion about this at #c21symp; isn't the tactility of the experience of The Unfortunates corrupted when digital?Martin Eve</div>
<div>@TimothyJJarvis Yes, it was a really fantastic conference (altho I could only make the 2nd day). See #c21symp for some of the live-tweeting.Caroline Edwards</div>
<div>@martin_eve Thanks for the mention! I'm pleased I found a WP plug-in that embeds pdfs and PowerPoint slides. #c21symp #JoysofTechnologyCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>#c21symp @the_blochian has uploaded her Powerpoint presentation on Book of Dave/post-apocalyptic eco/critical utopia. http://bit.ly/KjfQj8Martin Eve</div>
<div>Just uploaded the PP slides from my paper on Self's Book of Dave: http://www.drcarolineedwards.com/2012/05/01/will-self/ #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>@C21st_symposium congratulations to Bianca and Tony for an amazing #c21symp - excellent selection of papers, well done to everyone involvedAnthony Levings</div>
<div>@C21st_symposium Wiki page here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_phone_novel #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Has everyone forgotten the Japanese novels serialised as text messages?! #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>For those who want the lowdown on the final final writers roundtable at #c21symp, following @the_blochian. I've bailed!Martin Eve</div>
<div>@paulosullivano @martin_eve @slowberlin This sounds awesome! Slow time, slow walking, slow reading &amp; slow cinema. Joyous times! #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>@placesense @martin_eve David James is your man. Eg his new edited collection The Legacies of Modernism. Dominic Head helpful here #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Luke Williams refutes our times as non-revolutionary. Nice rejoinder given Occupy's global demonstration today! #c21symp @OccupyLondonCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Russell Celyn Jones asks what c21st writers should raise/&quot;make visual&quot;, since we don't live in revolutionary times #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>@martin_eve Thanks so much! Great keeping track of #c21symp from an ocean away.Andrew Ferguson</div>
<div>@martin_eve thanks! sounds like it was fascinating #c21sympPavel Cenkl</div>
<div>.@the_blochian interested in this idea: &quot;Is regionalism a form of false consciousness?&quot; Any follow-up suggestions? cc @martin_eve #c21sympPavel Cenkl</div>
<div>Loh: McEwan's Baxter echoes c19th colonial discourse of racist, child-like others. Represents a &quot;bad&quot; cosmopolitan immigrant. #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Phew! Signing off from livetweeting of #c21symp. *bows*Martin Eve</div>
<div>Loh: radical cosmopolitanism defines itself against the privileged cosmopolitanism embodied by McEwan's #c21symp #seafoodspecialistsCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Lucienne Loh argues that cosmopolitanism from below can regulate the excesses of global capitalism #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>... frequently conflated with Islamism, says Loh #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Loh will look at Amis and McEwan and their entanglement in post-9/11 debates, in which complaints against exploitation are... #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Loh opens with story of the idiot BNP candidate, of Italian descent, who claimed to be the most cosmopolitan mayoral candidate! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Finally, Lucienne Loh speaks on (Post)colonial legacies in 21c British Fiction #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Swift brings notions of nostalgic Englishness into consciousness, only to sharply ironize and critique them, says James #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Redundancy of regional fiction is a false critical supposition, says James, with reference to Graham Swift's Wish You Were Here. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Modernist notions of direction particularly apt to counter retrogressive conventional &quot;Englishness&quot; reading says James #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Is regionalism a form of false consciousness? Conflates with literary realism &amp;subjective topographies of place argues David James #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Zadie Smith derides continuation of 19c lit styles, but ignores, according to James, new forms that come from reference to that #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>David James discussing Zadie Smiths's lament abt absence of &quot;nimble definitions&quot; for contemp. fiction. Victorian Realism persists #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Ok, no he isn't! James instead talking on Englishness and provincial imagination in &quot;poco&quot; fiction. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>David James now speaking on unknowable communities in &quot;postcolonial&quot; fiction. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Can cosmopolitanism become more than a utopian concept? Needs to overcome superiority to provincial. Vernacular cosmopolitanism? #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Bianca is speaking rather too fast for me to tweet and digest. Sorry! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Critics sceptical of massive novels says Leggett. I'm sceptical of that claim. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Brian McHale's latest volume emphasizes problems of national categories for literature: sub-identities, global paradigm etc #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Smaller field of study, the easier it is to defend says Leggett. Explains national and sub-national literary categorisation. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Last panel - Provincialising Britain; cosmopolitan novel; Caryl Philips &amp; unknowable communities; postcolonial legacies.  #c21sympBritish Fiction</div>
<div>Final panel of #c21symp on &quot;Provincialising Britain&quot;. Bianca Leggett up first with a survey of British cosmopolitan novel #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Note to self. Wonder how Self's critique of monotheistic texts works in relation to Hoban's Eusa myth. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>For a discourse often rehearsing the same problematics, new thinking: Interesting live tweets from @martin_eve, re ecocrit panel, #c21symp.John Wrighton</div>
<div>Question on whether Burnside's underlying real is actually a Platonist &quot;real&quot;, real in its idealism. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@paulosullivano @the_blochian and I are at the Twenty-First-Century Literature conference at Birkbeck :) #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Hat tip to @martin_eve who has been live-tweeting presentations at #c21symp some of which are referencing Russell Hoban's Riddley WalkerSA4QE</div>
<div>Island of Ham as critical utopia? asks @the_blochian #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Noting slow time in BoD precursor, Hoban's Riddley Walker &amp; Self's allusion to this in RW intro says @the_blochian #c21symp cc @thoughtcatMartin Eve</div>
<div>Slow time, activism of walking link to act of reading says @the_blochian #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Self deliberately references paleo-biology - &quot;deep time&quot; - asks us to evaluate our own urban temporal practices says @the_blochian #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Skipping ahead, @the_blochian now examines deep and slow time in BoD #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Rundown of Self's critique of monotheistic religion by @the_blochian in both Book of Dave and his Intro to the Book of Revelation #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Formulated by Maczynska, this Urban Visionary Satire is comprised of realist, satirical and fantastic. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Does this sit, then, in a parodic, satirical tradition, asks @the_blochian, or a reformed version called &quot;Urban Visionary Satire&quot; #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>A breakdown of literary canon within which Book of Dave sits, particularly with destroyed London landmarks, given by @the_blochian #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>City outside of time and critique of new Jerusalems says @the_blochian #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>... and @the_blochian brings up the Will Self connection that I just mentioned. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Now we have @the_blochian talking on Will Self's The Book of Dave #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Schmitt-Kilb closing with postmodern walking and post-postmodern walking. Burnside says walking is political. Cf Will Self. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Burnside sits in a reality that is grounded but nonetheless retains construction &amp; scepticism says Schmitt-Kilb #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Problem for eco-crit is to situate itself between inescapable constructivist theories and naive realist notions says Schmitt-Kilb #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Burnside has an eco-Marxist stance, says Schmitt-Kilb #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Now we have Christian Schmitt-Kilb on John Burnside and contemporary eco-political fiction #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Lilley says that Ryle's analysis of The Accidental as neo-pastoral falls short because it only focuses on representation #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Gifford says not post-pastoral as anthrocentric. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Whether Jensen's The Rapture is post - pastoral turns upon its eco - centricity, as opposed to anthro - centricity. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Now on to Terry Gifford's &quot;post-pastoral&quot; and Martin Ryle's &quot;neo-pastoral&quot;. Many dualisms in this paper. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Utopian or elegiac modes of the pastoral in relation to ecological issues says Lilley #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Two main strains in c21 pastoral. One that draws out ecological concern and another.... That I failed to catch :/ #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Panel on Ecologies; papers on the pastoral; John Burnside; &amp; Will Self.  #c21sympBritish Fiction</div>
<div>Different configurations of pastoral constituents says Lilley #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Distinction between country and city key to 21C pastoral, says Lilley. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Deborah Lilley kicks off ecologies panel with a look at the pastoral mode. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@ContinuumLit you too! Will catch you at future events. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Earlier statement on Noon's originality may have been Marczewska quoting Noon, by the way... #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Ha ha! Now much critical feedback and questions from audience on Noon. Not well received! #c21symp @dgcrow Martin Eve</div>
<div>What a feat of conference tweeting from @martin_eve. #c21symp to follow along - sounds like a great event. #phdchatNicole Bush</div>
<div>Some twitter scepticism towards Noon's innovation coming in to #c21symp from @dgcrow Martin Eve</div>
<div>Internet as closest parallel to Thomas' Troposphere, says Kirk. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@dgcrow I'm just the messenger! That's what she said...! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@the_blochian I can safely claim to have only sceptically observed others and scoffed! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@martin_eve You are pulling our collective leg, aren't you? #c21sympdgrc</div>
<div>Steampunk interconnection with yesterday's paper posited by Kirk in Mr Y. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@martin_eve Surely it's embarrassing that you know that?! #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>@the_blochian FarmVille - a Facebook farming game! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Kirk looking at Scarlett Thomas' The End of Mr Y. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Did Neal Samuel Cohen Kirk just mention &quot;virtual farming&quot;? I'm such a technological ignoramous I have no idea what that is #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Kirk talking about ways in which book reading competes with &quot;there's an app for that&quot; world. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Kirk mixes terms on Internet and Web in first sentence there. Web Berners Lee, Internet ARPAnet. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Now Neal Samuel Cohen Kirk on British 21C Novel and technology. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Gaming ad de-centralisation of protagonist as single entity. Chimes with Rushdie's PoCo and polyphony. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Corrigan unearthing Rushdie's counterfactuals. Video game comparison. Red Alert? Rushdie's environment not military history though. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Rushdie's PoCo troubling of citizenship are extended to notions of the human in Luka. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@martin_eve is too fast with the live-tweeting! Embodying the technological doubling of virtual ontologies Mariane's talking about #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>My live tweeting could exemplify Harraway's cyborg, says Corrigan. I'll be back. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Marianne Corrigan argues Rushdie's Luca &amp; the Fire of Life a post-genre text. Also discussing gaming as a fictional form #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Duality of text in young adult/adult fiction, mirrored in gaming mode employed. Is this a post-genre text? asks Corrigan. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Corrigan arguing that Luka represents a departure for fiction that explores the post-human. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Now Marianne Corrigan is on, speaking on computer games in Rushdie's Luka and the Fire of Life. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Noon may bridge this transatlantic divide, says Marczewska #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Marczewska examining US-UK postmodern disjunction, especially across ludic mode. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>This passes ironic comment on art and relinquishment of autonomy to the machine says Marczewska #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Note: Cobralingus is not a real technological innovation, but a manual artistic process that mimics an imagined tech #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Marczewska speaking on Noon #c21symp http://pic.twitter.com/18imkQIVMartin Eve</div>
<div>Noon's Cobralingus &quot;takes remix fiction to a whole new level&quot; says Marczewska #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Marczewska has slide up on cobralingus and &quot;filter gates&quot; - procedures for re-working texts. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Marczewska showing examples of uncreativity: &quot;creativity is ______________ subtraction&quot;. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Like the term dub-metamorphictions! #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Kaja Marczewska now speaking on Jeff Noon and contemporary aesthetics. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Luke Williams making a convincing case for persistence of market-driven individually-written texts rather than collaborative texts #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Williams speaking on Helen de Witt's transcription of emails into fiction. Immanent documentary. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@the_blochian probably massively distorting your Bloch interjection there; I'll own up to having only read Spirit &amp; Adorno debate. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@the_blochian I could not have guessed you were going to say that. Act as though anticipated, compensate as though it won't. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Williams describing a form of modernism that abandons its contract with the future. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@martin_eve As ever, Bloch is helpful here-his distinction btwn abstract/concrete Utopianism. Anticipation or compensation? #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Williams citing Tom McCarthy on authenticity and suggesting a problem in his modernist retrospective. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Berthold Schoene's defence is the internationalism of the UK-&quot;special&quot; relationship with US, position inside Europe, colonial past #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Williams characterising literary fiction as a &quot;genre&quot; the predominant trope of which is romanticised author. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Luke Williams is reasserting the irrelevance of national literatures. As the author of one such study I am tempted to go &amp; hide #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Williams going to look at issues of transcription and trans-nationalism, but particularly in Helen de Witt. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Like Williams on now, speaking about &quot;displacing the author&quot; #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@spencro basically winding up people valuing genre fiction and calling for a return to &quot;value&quot; #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@the_blochian as in a regulative idea - not necessarily immanent, but a hopeless hope. An &quot;as if&quot; utopia. Can't go on, must go on. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@the_blochian metamodernism *very* problematic though. Just designates a regulative utopianism present in much PoMo. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>We are in the post-postmodern era as Carole James argues. I wish someone (other than me) could convince my students. #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>NB I have a paper critiquing meta-modernism in lit out in C21 later this year. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Carol Jones now speaking on &quot;post-devo-max-meta-modernism&quot;. Feels nervous after Bob Eaglestone's critical controversial keynote. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Contradictions in material memory texts; both neoconservative nostalgia and re-connection says Vardy. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@anthonylevings Yes. Given debate over value I'm anticipating critiques of the decision to analyse Self! #notpopularwithctitics #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Inability of Burn's text to integrate objects with society parallels fragmented society depicted says Vardy. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Chris Vardy is discussing back to the future. Up-front depth of analogue &amp; cassettes. Retromania indeed. #c21sympCaroline Edwards</div>
<div>Digital fabric, says Vardy, gives us a present permeated by the past, from which we forget that there used to be a cultural present #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>#c21symp Lively debate in response to @BobEaglestone's paper. Couldn't help getting distracted by his tentacular hands &amp; gestures!Caroline Edwards</div>
<div>Vardy says that Bill Brown queries ability of commodity fetishism to theorize material-memory dynamic. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Vardy cites Middleton and Woods for post-historical to memorial practices. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Focus on objectivity not new, says Vardy, but that &quot;material-memory texts&quot; resist this and root objects in subjectivity. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Nostalgia and neoliberal, &quot;re- ness&quot; in first decade of 21c. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>Chris Vardy up now to talk about neo-liberal Britain hisoricized. #c21sympMartin Eve</div>
<div>@martin_eve good luck getting to #c21symp hope the bus isn't too slowAnthony Levings</div>
<div>@the_blochian sounds like your paper will fit well with Tony's FreakAngels one and Alan's Dorian one, and I really like BoD #c21sympAnthony Levings</div>
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