Eva von Contzen (Freiburg): Telling Again, Anew, Against: Repetition and Literary History (FMSP) | 23 June 2026

23 June 2026, 6-8 pm
Campus Westend,  IG 1.314 (Eisenhower) 

Eva von Contzen (Freiburg)

This talk is part of New Frontiers in Memory Studies (FMSP)

What does it mean to retell a story? In recent Anglophone literature, retellings have become extremely popular, from Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls to Percival Everett’s James. Retellings use existing, often much older, narrative material, and tell the story anew by adapting it to the needs and expectations of a contemporary readership. Placing the current trend of retellings in its wider context of literary history, I argue that repetition is the key generator of meaning in the retelling process. 

Eva von Contzen is professor of English Literature including the literature of the Middle Ages at the University of Freiburg. She is PI of the ERC-funded project “Retelling and Repetition (DERIVATE)”. Her research interests include narrative theory, literary history, reception studies, retellings, and lists.