Professor Hywel Dix
- 01202 966679
- hdix at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
- http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3584-5199
- Professor in English
- Weymouth House W322, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
Biography
I am interested in the relationship between culture and social and political change, especially in relation to political devolution in the 4 nations of the UK. I explore these things in detail in my monographs After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain (2nd edition, University of Wales Press, 2013) and Postmodern Fiction and the Break-up of Britain (Continuum, 2010) as well as numerous other articles, book chapters and conference presentations. I have recently completed a comparative study of Welsh, Scottish, English and Irish literature in the aftermath of Brexit, entitled 'Compatriots or Competitors?'
More recently, I have developed a major research interest in Autofiction. My 2018 edited collection Autofiction in English broke new ground in the study of autofiction in the Anglophone world and built on an earlier extended research project about literary careers. Drawing on the theories, concepts and critical approaches of Career Construction Theory has enabled me to develop a new understanding of the material properties of authorial careers, which are written up in my monograph The Late-Career Novelist (2017)... I am currently exploring the relationship between life writing, autofiction and memory cultures in a number of different projects and published the short book Autofiction and Cultural Memory in 2023.
I am interested in supervising research in most areas of modern and contemporary British literature, especially projects that explore the relationship between literature and the changing make-up of the United Kingdom, as well as in life writing and autofiction.
moreResearch
Books
- Autofiction and Cultural Memory. 2023.
- Compatriots or Competitors: Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish Writing and Brexit in Comparative Contexts. 2022.
- The Late-Career Novelist: Career Construction Theory, Authors and Autofiction. 2017.
- After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain. Second ed, 2013.
- Postmodern Fiction and the Break-Up of Britain. 2010.
Edited Books
- Career Construction Theory and Life Writing: Narrative and Autobiographical Thinking across the Professions. 2020.
- Autofiction in English. 2018.
- Multicultural Narratives: Traces and Perspectives (co-ed). 2018.
Edited Special Issue of Journal
- Career Construction Theory and Life Writing. Special issue of Life Writing, 17.1 March 2020.
Chapters in Books
- ‘Autofiction in Words and Images: The Visual-Verbal Dialectic’ in The Routledge Companion to Literary Media, ed. Astrid Ensslin, Julia Round and Bronwen Thomas. 2023.
- ‘Autofiction’ in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (online). 2022.
- ‘Autofiction, Post-conflict Narratives and New Memory Cultures’ in The Autofictional: Approaches, Affordances, Forms ed. Alexandra Effe and Hannie Lawlor. 2021.
- ‘Welsh European’ and ‘Sowing the Seeds of Change: Raymond Williams Since 2000’ in Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World ed. Stephen Woodhams. 2021.
- ‘From vocational calling to career construction: Late-career authors and critical self-reflection’ in Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists: Challenges, Practices and Complexities, ed... Christopher Wiley and Ian Pace. 2020.
- ‘Conclusion: New Nodes of Intersection’ in Mapping Cultural Identities and Intersections: Imagological Readings ed. Onorina Botezat and Mustafa Kirca. 2019.
- ‘From Folk Artists to Integrated Professionals: The portrayal of tattoos in The Electric Michelangelo and Voodoo Pilchard’ in Tattoos in Crime and Detective Narratives: Making and Remaking ed. Kate Watson and Katharine Cox. 2019.
- ‘From Tonka Beans to Magic Seeds: VS Naipaul’s Late Career Fiction of Self-Retrospect’ in Seepersad and Sons: Naipaulian Synergies ed. V.J. Maharaj. 2019.
- ‘Writing the Nations: Welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish Literature’ in The History of British Women’s Writing, Vol. 10, 1970 – Present ed. Emma Parker and Mary Eagleton. 2015.
- ‘The Retrospective Stage: Late Career Fiction and Authorial Self-renewal’ in Literary Careers in the Modern Era ed. Nicola Evans and Guy Davidson. 2015.
- ‘Cymbeline and the Display of Empire’ in Shakespeare and Tyranny: Regimes of Reading in Europe and Beyond ed. Keith Gregor. 2014.
- ‘Devolution and Cultural Catch-Up: Decoupling England and its Literature from English Literature’ in Literature of an Independent England: Revisions of England, Englishness and English Literature ed. Claire Westall and Michael Gardiner. 2013.
- ‘“To Speak in New Ways”: Class and Poetry in Wales since 1970’ in Slanderous Tongues: Essays on Welsh Poetry in English 1970- 2000 ed. Daniel Williams. 2010.
- ‘The Pedagogy of Cultural Materialism’ in About Raymond Williams ed. Monika Seidl and Larry Grossberg, 2009.
Articles in Refereed Journals
- ‘Constructions of Cosmopolitanism in the Making of Welsh Writing in English.’ International Journal of Welsh Writing in English 10.1 2023.
- ‘Unfulfilled Vocations in Contemporary American Fiction.’ Textual Practice 36 (1), 2022.
- ‘Autofiction, Colonial Massacres and the Politics of Memory.’ University of Bucharest Review. 22 (1), 2020.
- ‘From Writer’s Block to Extended Plot: Career Construction Theory and Lives in Writing.’ Life Writing 16, 2018.
- ‘Autofiction: The forgotten face of French theory.’ Word and Text, 7 (1), 2017.
- ‘On Balkanism and Orientalism: Undifferentiated Patterns of Perception in Literary and Critical Representations of Eastern Europe’. Textual Practice, Vol. 29 (5), 2015.
- ‘Transnational Imagery in the Poetry of Imtiaz Dharker’. Anglistik, 26(1), 2015.
moreFavourites
- Dix, H., 2023. Compatriots Or Competitors? Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish Writing and Brexit in Comparative Contexts. University of Wales Press.
- Dix, H., 2022. Autofiction and Cultural Memory. Routledge.
- Autofiction in English. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Dix, H., 2013. After Raymond Williams. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Journal Articles
- Dix, H., 2023. Constructions of Cosmopolitanism in the Making of Welsh Writing in English. International Journal of Welsh Writing in English.
- Dix, H., 2022. The Structure of Complex Words. AMERICAN LITERARY HISTORY, 34 (3), 1221-1224.
- Dix, H., 2020. Autofiction, Colonial Massacres and the Politics of Memory. University of Bucharest Review: Literary and Cultural Studies Series, 2020 (1).
- Dix, H., 2020. From Writer’s Block to Extended Plot: Career Construction Theory and Lives in Writing. Life Writing, 17 (1), 11-26.
- Dix, H., 2020. Career Construction Theory and Life Writing. Life Writing, 17 (1), 1-7.
- Dix, H., 2020. Unfulfilled vocations in contemporary American fiction. Textual Practice, 1-18.
- Dix, H., 2019. AUTOFICTION, COLONIAL MASSACRES and the POLITICS of MEMORY. University of Bucharest Review: Literary and Cultural Studies Series, 9 (1), 10-22.
- Dix, H., 2017. Autofiction: The forgotten face of french theory. Word and Text, 7 (1), 69-85.
- Dix, H., 2015. On Balkanism and Orientalism: Undifferentiated patterns of perception in literary and critical representations of Eastern Europe. Textual Practice, 29 (5), 973-991.
- Dix, H., 2015. Transnational Imagery in the Poetry of Imtiaz Dharker. Anglistik, 26 (1), 55-67.
- Dix, H., 2015. On Balkanism and Orientalism: undifferentiated patterns of perception in literary and critical representations of Eastern Europe. Textual Practice.
- Dix, H., 2014. ‘After Writing Back: Owen Sheers, Welsh Writing in English and the Paradigm of Postcolonial Literature’. Margins: a journal of literature and culture, Vol. IV (2014)., 30-57.
- Dix, H., 2014. The Loss of the Subject: Keywords and the language of science fiction. Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction.
- Dix, H., 2012. Mytho-poetics for a new millennium: decoding satire in Sebastian Faulks, Amanda Craig and Jim Crace. C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, 1 (1).
- Dix, H.R., 2012. From Markets to Metafiction: satires of the literary marketplace at the dawn of two new centuries. Textes et Contextes, 7.
- Dix, H., 2007. Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain. Key Words.
- Dix, H., 2005. Mark Twain: Freedom, Imperialism and Selective Tradition. Public Resistance, 2.1.
- Dix, H., 2004. The Permanent Tourist: Guidebooks in Travel and Education. Travel, Imagination and Myth: Proceedings of Tourism and Literature Annual Conference ed. Mike Robinson and David Picard. Sheffield: Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change.
Books
- Dix, H., 2023. Compatriots Or Competitors? Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish Writing and Brexit in Comparative Contexts. University of Wales Press.
- Dix, H., 2022. Autofiction and Cultural Memory. Routledge.
- Dix, H., 2020. Career Construction Theory and Life Writing: Narrative and Autobiographical Thinking Across the Professions. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Autofiction in English. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Kirca, M. and Dix, H., 2018. Multicultural Narratives Traces and Perspectives.
- Dix, H., 2017. The Late-Career Novelist Career Construction Theory, Authors and Autofiction. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Dix, H., 2013. After Raymond Williams. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Dix, H., 2010. Postmodern Fiction and the Break-Up of Britain. London: Continuum.
- Dix, H., 2008. After Raymond Williams: Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Chapters
- Dix, H., 2023. AUTOFICTION IN WORDS AND IMAGES: The Visual-Verbal Dialectic. The Routledge Companion to Literary Media. 87-98.
- Dix, H., 2022. Autofiction, Post-conflict Narratives, and New Memory Cultures. Palgrave Studies in Life Writing. 185-203.
- Dix, H., 2021. Raça, Religão e Prãticas Contra-Hegemônicas en Empson, Williams e Freire [Race, Religion and Counter-Hegemonic Practice in Empson, Williams and Freire]. In: Paixão, A.H., Mazza, D. and Spigolon, N., eds. Centelhas de Transformações – Paulo Freire e Raymond Williams.. São José do Rio Preto: Editora HN.
- Dix, H., 2021. Sowing the Seeds of Change: Raymond Williams Since 2000. In: Woodhams, S., ed. Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World. Cardigan: Parthian.
- Dix, H., 2021. Welsh European. In: Woodhams, S., ed. Raymond Williams: From Wales to the World. Cardigan: Parthian.
- Dix, H., 2020. ‘From vocational calling to career construction: Late-career authors and critical self-reflection’. In: Wiley, C. and Pace, I., eds. Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists Challenges, Practices, and Complexities. Springer Nature, 39-64.
- Dix, H., 2019. Conclusion: New Nodes of Intersection. In: Kirca, M. and Botezat, O., eds. Mapping Cultural Identities and Intersections Imagological Readings. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Dix, H., 2019. ‘From Tonka Beans to Magic Seeds: VS Naipaul’s Late Career Fiction of Self-Retrospect'. In: Maharaj, J.V., ed. Seepersad and Sons: Naipaulian Synergies.. London: Peepal Tree Press.
- Dix, H., 2019. ‘From Folk Artists to Integrated Professionals: The portrayal of tattoos in The Electric Michelangelo and Voodoo Pilchard’. In: Watson, K. and Cox, K., eds. Tattoos in Crime and Detective Narratives: Marking and Remarking. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Dix, H., 2018. Introduction: Autofiction in English: The Story so Far. Palgrave Studies in Life Writing. 1-23.
- Dix, H., 2016. The retrospective stage: Late career fiction and authorial self-renewal. Literary Careers in the Modern Era. 57-73.
- Dix, H.R., 2015. Writing the Nations: Welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish Literature. In: Eagleton, M. and Parker, E., eds. The History of British Women’s Writing, Vol. 10, 1970 – Present. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 195-213.
- Dix, H., 2014. Cymbeline and the Display of Empire. In: Gregor, K., ed. Shakespeare and Tyranny: A Geography of Appropriations from the 17th Century to the Present. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Dix, H., 2009. The Pedagogy of Cultural Materialism: Paulo Freire and Raymond Williams. In: Grossberg, L. and Seidl, M., eds. About Raymond Williams. London: Routledge, 81-93.
- Dix, H., 2009. “You and Your stories!”: Narrating the History of the Dispossessed in Amitav Ghosh’s Hungry Tide and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. In: Chaudry, B., ed. Amitav Ghosh: Critical Essays. New Delhi: PHI Learning.
- Dix, H.R., 2009. The pedagogy of cultural materialism: Paulo freire and raymond williams. About Raymond Williams. 81-93.
- Dix, H., 2008. “To Speak in New Ways”: Class and Poetry in Wales since 1970. Slanderous Tongues: Essays on Welsh Poetry in English 1970- 2000 ed. Daniel Williams.. Bridgend: Seren.
Conferences
- Dix, H., 2020. 'From vocational calling to career construction: Late-career authors and critical self-reflection'. In: Wiley, C. and Pace, I., eds. Writing about Contemporary Artists 20-22 October 2017 University of Surrey. Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists: Challenges, Practices and Complexities,. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Profile of Teaching PG
- Mediating the Nation
- Culture and Controversy
- Narrating Identities
Profile of Teaching UG
- Modernism and Postmodernism
- Postcolonial Texts
Invited Lectures
-
Literatures and Laws Symposium, Bournemouth University, 13 Apr 2024 more
Discursive Spaces in Literature, Law and Human Rights -
Auctor in Fabula Conference, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, 25 Mar 2024 more
Fictions of Self Retrospect: Constructing the Narratives of Authorial Careers -
‘Autofiction and Cultural Memory.’, Goldsmiths, University of London, 17 Nov 2022 more
Autofiction and Biofiction, Centre for Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. 17 November 2022. -
Race, Religion and Counter-hegemonic Practice., UNICAMO, Sao Paulo, 26 Aug 2021 more
‘Race, Religion and Counter-hegemonic Practice in Empson, Williams and Freire.’ Paulo Freire and Raymond Williams Centenary: Sparks of Transformation, UNICAMP, Sao Paulo, Brazil. -
The Cultural Capital of Capitals of Culture, Edinburgh, 08 Dec 2020 more
‘The Cultural Capital of Capitals of Culture: European Capitals and UK Cities of Culture Before Brexit and Beyond.’ Edinburgh Heriot-Watt University, Interdisciplinary Research Centre Seminar Series. -
Autofiction: A Developing Genre, University of Surrey, Guildford., 08 May 2018 more
Invited speaker, University of Surrey, 'Cultures in Contact' research seminar. -
Literature and the Environment series., University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany, 09 Nov 2016 more
The Changing Environment of British Anglophone Literatures. Invited speaker. -
The Pedagogy of Cultural Materialism, Swansea University, 23 Nov 2015 more
- ‘The Pedagogy of Cultural Materialism: Raymond Williams and Paulo Freire’. Raymond Williams Discussion Group, Swansea University, 23 November 2015. -
'Devolutionary Identities', University of Mannheim, Germany., 13 Oct 2014 more
'Devolutionary Identities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales', Home and Homeland: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives, University of Mannheim, October 13 2014.
Grants
- Raymond Williams, Cultural Materialism and the Break-Up of Britain (University of Glamorgan, 01 Oct 2003). Awarded
Public Engagement & Outreach Activities
- Write Your Future Self (01 Jun 2023-07 Jul 2023)
- Telling (My) Stories (02 Jan 2023-31 Mar 2023)
- Music for Rememberance (01 Nov 2014)
- 'The Music of Poetry: reading Britten's Intertexts' (01 Jun 2014)
- 'The Music of Poetry: Reading Britten's Intertexts' (01 Nov 2013)
Qualifications
- PhD in English (University of Glamorgan, 2006)
- MA in Literatures of Conflict (University of York, 2003)
- BA (Hons) in English (University of Cambridge, 2001)
Honours
- Raymond Williams Research Fellowship (University of Glamorgan, 2003)
Memberships
- MeCCSA, Member (2018-),
- Association for Welsh Writing in English, Member (2012-),
- American Comparative Literature Association, Member (2006-),