Fourth Digital DACH Victorianists Workshop: Victorian Decadence, 21 July

The recent decade has seen a surge in the interest of Decadence studies as a distinct field of enquiry uncomfortably perched at the cusp between late Victorianism and Modernism. In 2019, the editors of the Cambridge Critical Series on Decadence and Literature, Jane Desmarais and David Weir, attest to the temporal elasticity of Decadence studies, claiming that the "study of decadence has been extended well into the twentieth century, and some would argue, […] that the concept has contemporary relevance as well" (1).
Indeed, as Kate Hext’s and Alex Murray’s Decadence in the Age of Modernism (2019) finds, Decadence has bled into the following literary periods in a way that prompts the question whether it has ever been truly ‘over’. As a consequence, decadent modes of enquiry prove illuminating in topical 21st-century debates.
Similarly pointing to the expansive aftermath of Decadence, Regenia Gagnier has alerted us to its global dimensions and the imperial implications of literature subsumed under that umbrella term arguing that "decadence and modernization are mutually constituting, global, and subject to ongoing renegotiations that have their own varying rhythms when viewed geographically" (2018).
Considering the rich scholarly assessments and the discussed array of transgressions ‘Decadence studies’ appear as a global, transhistorical, potentially decolonial train of thought. How do texts we study today under the umbrella term ‘decadent’ still adhere to the markers of Victorian literature?
The fourth DACH Victorianists workshop aims to reconsider and revalue the messiness of Decadence in Victorian studies by conceiving of Decadence as a mode (i.e. style, topics), critical theory (links to postcolonialism, gender and queer theory) and attitude (e.g. counter-culture vs. conservatism). The workshop will take place on July 21, 2023. For our CfP, please click here.

We look forward to meeting colleagues old and new in July - as always, feel free to pass our invitation on to any colleagues who might be interested in joining DACH Victorianists or redirect them to our website. Many thanks!

Very best wishes
Heidi Liedke and Katharina Herold-Zanker