Författare på rättegång: litterärt förräderi och efterkrigspolitik, 1945-1949
Do writers live in a global ‘republic of letters’? Are there any limits to what writers can say? These questions on artistic freedom and the duty of artists have been around ever since Plato banned the poets from his ideal republic. In recent years, speech has become increasingly contested, with flashpoints like the Prophet Muhammad cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, or hate speech on Facebook.
This research project steps back to the post-World War II period to understand how writers and intellectuals were subjected to a series of legal and governmental controls over their beliefs and writings. By examining court cases and intelligence investigations in six national contexts (France, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Romania, and the United States), I detail how writing and authorship became fiercely contested after the war. The trials also served a symbolic function by educate the wider public about the duties of intellectuals in the new order.
This research project shows the importance of authorship in literary studies (despite claims of the “death of the author”) and that a writer’s intent cannot be overlooked. The project also shows the centrality of the nation-state in literary production, as state laws and state agencies controlled the limits of free expression. State control over literary production remains a continuing issue in the current world, so by understanding prior attempts to criminalize writing we can better understand how to work with speech in our own time.
This research project steps back to the post-World War II period to understand how writers and intellectuals were subjected to a series of legal and governmental controls over their beliefs and writings. By examining court cases and intelligence investigations in six national contexts (France, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway, Romania, and the United States), I detail how writing and authorship became fiercely contested after the war. The trials also served a symbolic function by educate the wider public about the duties of intellectuals in the new order.
This research project shows the importance of authorship in literary studies (despite claims of the “death of the author”) and that a writer’s intent cannot be overlooked. The project also shows the centrality of the nation-state in literary production, as state laws and state agencies controlled the limits of free expression. State control over literary production remains a continuing issue in the current world, so by understanding prior attempts to criminalize writing we can better understand how to work with speech in our own time.
Final report
The sabbatical period resulted in the fulfilment of the major objective, namely, a completed book manuscript that was transmitted to the contracted publisher, Bloomsbury Academic. The book clearly indicates and acknowledges the sabbatical support received from the RJ and will be poublished open-access. The sabbatical was spent at the University of Bordeaux, where I collaborated with the research group CLIMAS (Cultures et litteratures des mondse anglophones). During the sabbatical I also undertook some extended research time at libraries in North America.
The book is now in production and will be published open-access in spring/summer 2026 (depending on the speed of copy-editing, indexing, etc.). The title of the book is 'Literary Treason: Authors on Trial in the Wake of World War II'. The book (130,000 words) consists of an extended introduction, six major chapters (case studies: US, UK, France, Norway, Ireland, Romania), and a conclusion, with around 40 images as well.
During the sabbatical period I presented work in progress at three major conferences: a paper on Knut Hamsun at the Modernist Studies in Asia Network conference (Hong Kong), a paper on Irish writer Francis Stuart at a conference on the literature of occupation held at Ghent University (Belgium), and as the seminar organizer of a seminar on 1940s literature and history at the Modernist Studies Association annual conference (Chicago).
The book is now in production and will be published open-access in spring/summer 2026 (depending on the speed of copy-editing, indexing, etc.). The title of the book is 'Literary Treason: Authors on Trial in the Wake of World War II'. The book (130,000 words) consists of an extended introduction, six major chapters (case studies: US, UK, France, Norway, Ireland, Romania), and a conclusion, with around 40 images as well.
During the sabbatical period I presented work in progress at three major conferences: a paper on Knut Hamsun at the Modernist Studies in Asia Network conference (Hong Kong), a paper on Irish writer Francis Stuart at a conference on the literature of occupation held at Ghent University (Belgium), and as the seminar organizer of a seminar on 1940s literature and history at the Modernist Studies Association annual conference (Chicago).