The University of Aberdeen’s unique treasure trove of fiction, that rivals any university in the world, will form part of a dedicated centre for the study of novels which was launched yesterday (Thursday) at a special event with world-renowned author John Sutherland.
A team of scholars at Aberdeen has created the Centre for The Novel to promote the study of novels, novelists and novelistic traditions in English, including Scottish, Irish and American fiction.
Over its 500-year-history, the University has acquired an exceptional collection of printed works of fiction, many still in their original bindings, together with a unique manuscript archive. Though known to a handful of experts, much of the collection has lain unused.
The official launch of the Centre took place yesterday.
The highlight of the launch was a talk by eminent British author John Sutherland on The Popular Novel before the Novel Became (Really) Popular. There was also an exhibition of rare books from the University’s Special Collections.
John Sutherland is one of Britain’s best-known literary reviewers with a regular column in the Guardian. He was also Chair of the Man Booker Prize in 2005 – one of the world’s most prestigious awards for contemporary fiction. He has recently retired as Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London, but continues to lecture at the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of many works of literary criticism, biography, and publishing history.
The Director of the Centre for The Novel is Professor Janet Todd – an internationally renowned author and distinguished critic of early women writers who recently joined the University’s School of Language & Literature as the Herbert J C Grierson Professor of English Literature.
Professor Todd said she was pleased to see months of hard work finally coming to fruition. She said: “I am delighted to be officially launching the Centre for The Novel at the University of Aberdeen. This is a truly exciting project and I am looking forward to playing a key part in its development.
“Since its inception in the late 17th and 18th centuries, the novel in English has become the main literary form in our culture. A key aim of the Centre for The Novel is to attract scholars and postgraduates to work on the University’s vast collection of early fiction which is among the best in the world.”
The two Associate Directors, Dr David Duff and Dr Catherine Jones, also teach in the Department of English at the University, and the work of the Centre is supported by a distinguished team of advisers from around the world.
The Centre for The Novel will explore the regional, national and international significance of the novel as an art form by running conferences and hosting fellowships and through postgraduate teaching and research. It will also address such general topics as subjectivity and identity, medical theory and fiction, the sociology of reading, and issues of nation, class, race and gender.
Aberdeen is home to two scholarly editions of international significance: the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen, edited by Professor Janet Todd, and the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels of Walter Scott, edited by Professor David Hewitt with Dr Alison Lumsden.
Professor Todd said: “The Centre for The Novel will draw on the University’s Special Collections in fiction and take advantage of the English Department’s unrivalled reputation in editing; it will exploit both strengths to host a range of seminars and conferences.
“Staff at the Centre have also made significant contributions to scholarly editions of other major novelists such as Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Joseph Conrad.”
Aberdeen has one of the best collections in existence of popular fiction published between 1710 and 1836, when Aberdeen was a copyright library. It also boasts an extensive range of supportive material such as medical literature, political pamphlets, and complete runs of many 18th and 19th century periodicals including Gentleman’s and Blackwood’s.
To mark the launch of the Centre for The Novel, the University of Aberdeen will be offering a taught Masters (MLitt) in The Novel, starting in September 2006. This unique course can be completed in one year on a full-time basis or over two years part-time. Students enrolled on the MLitt will be affiliated to the Centre and will participate in all its activities.
Professor Todd said: “The new MLitt forms a key part of the Centre for The Novel and we hope to establish links with other similar centres in Europe and North America to offer students at Aberdeen a diverse course of study.”
Professor Todd and her colleagues aim to attract a wide range of students on to the course and urge anyone who is contemplating returning to University to consider the MLitt as an option.
“We’d like to appeal to people of all ages to consider the MLitt. It may appeal most to those who have recently completed an English course or to mature students who are thinking about returning to University.
“One of the great benefits of the MLitt is that it can be adapted to suit the needs of each individual student regardless of other commitments. It’s a course that’s ideally placed to allow students to study for pleasure as well as for academic advancement. We would urge anyone with an interest to get in touch with us to find out more about this exciting new course.”
For further information on the Centre for The Novel, or to find out more about the MLitt course in 2006-07, contact Professor Janet Todd at j.todd@abdn.ac.uk, or email: novel@abdn.ac.uk, or log on to: www.abdn.ac.uk/english/novel