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Is literature still relevant?
7 December 2011
Agnes Andeweg nominated for 2012 ABG VN Essay Award
Dr. Agnes Andeweg, associated with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), has been nominated for the 2012 ABG VN Essay Award, a project set up by the Academische Boekengids (ABG) and Vrij Nederland (VN). Nineteen essays were entered for the award intended for young academics with a talent for writing, of which two have been nominated. The winner will be announced at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam on 26 March 2012.
The winning essay is to be published in the March 2012 issue of the Academische Boekengids (ABG), and the award also carries a 2,500-Euro prize. The candidates had to submit their essays by 31 October 2011. From all these entries, the jury selected two candidates, one of whom is Andeweg, for the short list, which will be published in the December issue of the ABG.
The legitimacy of literature
Andeweg’s essay discusses whether literature is still relevant. A long time ago, when books were still frequently subjected to censure, literature was a significant factor, she claims: “Specifically at such times when authors, publishers and book dealers clashed with the church or the government, supporters and opponents expressed their convictions most patently and the debate on literature and morality was the most acrimonious.” But nowadays, hardly anybody worries about the contents of a novel. “As long as readers, including governments and courts, are convinced that it is a free art, writers can literally say whatever they want to without having any impact on public opinion.” Literature has become imprisoned in its own bastion.
Agnes Andeweg read Dutch Language and Literature at Utrecht University and was awarded her doctorate at Maastricht University for her research into gothic phenomena in modern Dutch literature. She is associated with the FASoS’ Centre for Gender and Diversity and Department of Literature and Art.
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