Fiction and the ethical turn

Fifteen years ago, Pierre Jourde could write without any fear of reproach that ‘as far as contemporary literature is concerned, the discussion of good and evil is now completely obsolete’. In a moment with calls for censorship, boycotts and protests, this position can no longer be defended, but seems like an anachronistic relic. This research project takes as its task an examination of this shift, interrogating the connection between fiction and ethics from the perspective of philosophers, literary scholars, writers and artists. The project consists of three parts: an edited volume, On This Side of Good and Evil. Morality and Literature from the Renaissance to the Contemporary, which will invite contributions that bring together fiction and ethics in ways that transcend simplistic paradigms; an international conference, Ethics and Literature Today, which aims to explore the limits and conflicts of the increased importance of ethics in literature; and a series of lectures by artists and writers, Can We Say Everything? Can We Represent Without Limits?, which will extend these questions beyond literature to other aesthetic forms.

Project led by

Barbara Carnevali, Full Professor, Chair of Social Aesthetics, EHESS

Project team

• Emiliano Cavaliere, PhD Student, EHESS; Teaching Associate, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3
• Martina Di Stefano, Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre Prospéro, Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles
• Katie Ebner-Landy, Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University
• Doriane Molay, PhD Student, EHESS