Forms of Contemporaneity

Abstract

The conclusion ends the book as a whole by reflecting on the methodological implications of the book’s approach for the study of contemporary literature. It argues that the contemporary should be approached as historical temporality in its own right, rather than a period category. It then briefly surveys some emerging tendencies in recent fiction, such as the turn towards polyphonic novels written by Bernardine Evaristo and Annie Ernaux. These are novels that attempt to present a contemporaneity that brings together what Peter Osborne calls a ‘disjunctive unity of present times’.