Genre and Interpretation

The selection of articles published in this anthology gives an idea of the array of interesting issues raised by literary genres and their interpretation in relation to genres. Both topics are vital and central issues in literary studies: no literary criticism is possible without a discussion about the concept(s) of genre or the methods and role of interpretation in literature. The dialogue began in the conference likewise entitled Genre and Interpretation, organized by the Finnish Graduate School for Literary Studies in co-operation with the PhDnet Literary and Cultural Studies in Helsinki, in June 2009. Since then, the initial communications presented as keynote lectures or shorter papers in the many sessions have been transformed into articles and undergone the standard peer review procedure. The anthology contains articles by all the keynote speakers and a select number of other contributions by researchers and doctoral students in the Finnish Graduate School or in the PhDnet.