Professor Mary Cosgrove (University of Warwick) will give a paper entitled 'Boredom in the Neoliberal Present: An Overview' on Wednesday 9 March, 5.30pm in the Lady Brodie Room, St Hilda's College, Oxford.

All are welcome. Please RSVP to georgina.paul@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk for catering purposes.

Abstract

This paper explores the cultural discourse of boredom in contemporary German-language literature and film, considering the historical origins of boredom during the rise of capitalism. It argues that as an “ugly feeling” (S. Ngai, 2007), boredom continues to operate as a signature mood of the neoliberal present, manifest in everyday individual experience and behaviour. Contemporary German-language literature and film strikingly articulate what might be viewed as an epochal mood.