CORE Talk: Inheritance in the 21st century: A literary perspective

Abstract: 

In this talk I will present a book project about inheritance in 21st century Anglophone, German and French literature that I recently started working on. Dealing with what the dead leave behind is a perennial human task, but the cultural and legal practices involved vary over time. If today we ask, what is inheritance and what should it be? we find that its meaning and impact are changing in ways that intersect with some of the major developments and pressing concerns of our age. Changing family patterns challenge traditional inheritance norms based on kinship; inherited everyday objects confront us with issues of sustainability as heirs decide what to keep, sell or throw out; struggles over ancestral lands questions the legitimacy of colonial land legacies; new technology forces us to consider the use of our digital legacies; and in the coming years, the growing wealth disparity will be exacerbated by the largest wealth transfer in history as the aging baby boomer generation pass on their assets. Inheritance has long been a favorite literary motif, and contemporary narrative fiction continues this tradition by offering ways to think through the complex personal and public stakes involved in inheritance today. In my talk I will present two examples of such fictional engagements related to issues of queer inheritance and digital afterlives.

Join via Zoom (please note that you cannot join via Teams - only Zoom): 

https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/63723602045