Metamodernism has gained impetus as an important area of academic research over the past ten years, as a way of understanding what is happening in contemporary literature and culture. However, the different critical versions of metamodernism require refining, as although many critics agree that the more general term ‘post-postmodernism’ is not sufficient, they also disagree on the central aspects of metamodernism. Tim Vermeulen proposes that metamodernism attempts to account for the emergence of a wider ‘structure of feeling’ in the twenty-first century which responds to our historicity, bound up with the aftermaths of 9/11, the financial crash and austerity. Hence this new network provides a unique opportunity to formulate a timely and multidisciplinary response to what Linda Hutcheon has termed the difficult but urgent challenge of pinpointing a more exact ‘label’, and disseminating it to a variety of audiences, including academics working in the area of contemporary literature, culture and art, but also non-academics such as architects, creative writers, and avant-garde artists.
The network will bring together leading international experts on the legacies of modernism for the first time in order to reflect on, and then define, the central aspects of metamodernism. The project crosses international boundaries in order to build new collaborations and forge a multidisciplinary response to metamodernism: academics will take part from across Europe (including The Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Sweden and Poland), Japan and the United States; they will be from a variety of disciplines, including literary and cultural studies, American studies, women’s studies, philosophy, sociology, film studies and fine art.