Professor Dr. Dennis Kersten

Biography

Dennis Kersten specializes in English literature, particularly British fiction from the late nineteenth century onwards. His current research focuses on the reception of literary Metamodernism and its implications for contemporary life writing, especially within the biographical genre and in response to the perceived demise of Postmodernism. Kersten has been a member of the steering committee for the international interdisciplinary AHRC-funded 'Metamodernism' network from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2023. His dissertation, 'Travels in Fiction: The Field of Biography - Writing the Lives of Nineteenth-Century Authors' (2011), dealt with the fictionalization of the life stories of Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde. He has published in various journals and serves as a reviews editor for the 'European Journal of Life Writing'. Additionally, Kersten teaches in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Radboud University and is the Chair of the MA in Literary Studies, where he also gives public lectures on topics related to British history and popular culture. His overarching research theme includes Metamodernism and life writing, working as part of the SCARAB (Studying Cultural Infrastructure and Reception across Borders) research group.

Research Interests