CAPPE members are working with colleagues across Europe on a project that will help understand the power and influence of the political novel in Europe.
Funded by UKRI and the EU, – is aiming to assess the political novel as a vital element of European political, social and cultural heritage. It sets out to examine how people in different national and cultural contexts engage with contemporary political issues, considering how the political novel helps them join in shaping European societies and politics.
Co-ordinated by University of Zagreb, CAPONEU is a partnership of eight core institutions, drawing on further expertise from writers, publishers, academics and other influential organisations. CAPPE brings its political-theoretical expertise to the ambitious inter-continental CAPONEU project, aiming to understand the political novel from diverse authorial, cultural, socio-political and linguistic backgrounds.
CAPONEU’s interdisciplinary research team seeks not only to unpack the rich literary heritage of the twentieth century but also to make the political novel experiences relevant to our present. It will allows a greater understanding of how perceptions formed by different beliefs, values, traditions, economy, history, culture, age and gender are reflected in the political novel as a specific literary genre, and how and why this genre re-emerges as a social factor today.
How do we understand the European political novel today?
The European political novel is currently gaining prominence not only in strictly delimited literary circles but in European societies at large. Given this new relevance of political writing, CAPONEU’s goal is to assess the political novel as an important element of European political, social and cultural heritage and as a tool for community building, political education and European advocacy.
The research teams are not only analysing the representation of beliefs and traditions in the political novel, but also the role of the political novel itself in shaping and changing perspectives on the individual, the state, the economy, and especially on Europe’s historical and cultural past.
Aware that the European project has been destabilised in recent decades by crises, the question now is how the European heritage of the political novel can become active in strengthening the resilience of European societies to crises. Given the simultaneous resurgence of various forms of populism and/or authoritarianism, a subsequent recession, and, most recently, war with unpredictable consequences, answering this question will be crucial for the future of Europe.
So far, CAPPE has run a conference that underpins the project with a vital rethinking of politics in the twenty-first century and several of the planned workshops that will find new ways to consider the political novel and look to make policy recommendations.
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