The Novel Network
About us
Comprising academics from across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Novel Network examines the novel from a range of disciplinary perspectives: from the literary critical to the socio-historical, philosophical and ethnographic.
We consider:
- how the global novel functions politically and socially
- whether periodicity is a useful way of classifying novels or whether there is another more compelling way they can historicised
- the current state of novel theory
- whether there is more than a nostalgic place for the novel’s particular readerly pleasures, such as: for deep absorption, for the framework of the page and the tactile rhythm of its turning.
Our group supports the work of the postgraduate Novel Studies Reading Group, which meets across semesters for detailed discussion of specific authors or novel theorists.
Core members of the Novel Network, Frow, Hardie and Smith, edit the Oxford University Press series .Ìý
The Novel Network is formally affiliated (via a Memorandum of Understanding) with the  in the United States.
Our events and publications
The Novel Network runs conferences, masterclasses and reading groups and has generated numerous publications. These events and publications not only showcase the work of its members, but provide valuable training for its postgraduate student and future academic members.
The Novel Network supports the work of the postgraduate Novel Studies Reading Group, whose current convenor is Jess Masters (jessica.masters@sydney.edu.au). Please contact Jess if you wish to be involved in the postgraduate group’s activities.
- Nancy Armstrong, Gilbert, Louis, and Edward Lehrman Distinguished Professor of English, Duke Univeristy, 2013: The Affective Turn in the Contemporary Novel (lecture and masterclass)
- Jonathan Arac, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh, 2016:  Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy in American World Literature (lecture); Triangulating Moby Dick: Intersections of American Studies, World Literature, and Theory of the Novel (masterclass)
- Deidre Lynch, Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature, Harvard, 2023: Believing in Novels: Hoax, Hocus, and the Gothic (November 7, lecture); Ephemera, Leavings, and the Boundaries of the Book in the Electronic Age: The Case of Ali Smith (November 8, masterclass)
- Tina Lupton, Copenhagen, 2024: ‘ (April 12, masterclass)
- (May 24, masterclass)
- Sharon Marcus, Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, (October 16, lecture)
- Sharon Marcus, Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, Â (October 18, masterclass)
- In 2018, three core members of the Novel Network, Smith, Hardie and Frow, visited Harvard, funded combinedly by Harvard and the University of Sydney’s office of global engagement, presenting their research in a series of colloquia at the Mahindra Humanities Centre.
Frow, J., Hardie, M., Smith, V. (2020). The Bildungsroman: form and transformations.ÌýTextual Practice, 34(12).Ìý
Cogle, J., Fischer, N., Saleh Rofail, L., Smith, V. (2018).ÌýPortable Prose: The Novel and the Everyday.Ìý Lexington Books.Ìý
Frow, J., Smith, V. (2017). The Prosaic Imaginary.ÌýNovel, 50(1).Ìý
Smith, V., Frow, J. (2016). Novel Worlds.ÌýJournal of Language, Literature and Culture, 63(2-3).Ìý
Our people
The Novel Network is made up of academics and researchers from across the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. We welcome the opportunity to connect with other researchers in various and similar disciplines.
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- Dr Vanessa Berry
- ¶Ù°ùÌýNienke Boer
- ¶Ù°ùÌýMeg Brayshaw
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- ¶Ù°ùÌýAnthony Cordingley
- ¶Ù°ùÌýBriohny Doyle
- ¶Ù°ùÌýJedidiah Evans
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- ±Ê°ù´Ç´Ú±ð²õ²õ´Ç°ùÌýAdam Morton
- ±Ê°ù´Ç´Ú±ð²õ²õ´Ç°ùÌýBrendan O’Connor
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- Dr Brangwen Stone
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- ¶Ù°ùÌýLucas Thompson
- ¶Ù°ùÌýLéa Vuong
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Group Convenor