David Hering
University of Liverpool, English, Faculty Member
- English Literature, English, Film Studies, American Literature, Postmodernism, Literature and cinema, and 26 moreFilm Music And Sound, American Culture, Film Adaptation, European Cinema, Avant-Garde Cinema, 20th Century American, Cinematic Space, Art and Independent Cinema, American Cinema, Postmodernism (Literature), Horror Cinema, David Foster Wallace, Contemporary American Cinema, Thomas Pynchon, ROBERTO BOLAÑO, Paul Auster, Mark Z Danielewski, Encyclopaedic Literature, Jonathan Franzen, Jennifer Egan, Dana Spiotta, New Sincerity, Contemporary Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Metafiction, and Cultural History Of Ghostsedit
- Lecturer in American and contemporary literature at the University of Liverpool. Research interests: form and narra... moreLecturer in American and contemporary literature at the University of Liverpool.
Research interests: form and narrative structure in postmodern and "post-postmodern" writing; literature and cinema; graphic novels; literature and popular music/musical structure. I have worked or am currently working on the following writers: David Foster Wallace; Roberto Bolano; Jonathan Franzen; Dana Spiotta; Jennifer Egan; Mark Z Danielewski; Fredric Jameson; Chris Ware; BS Johnson.
I have supervised research projects on Alison Bechdel, Roberto Bolano, Bret Easton Ellis, Vladimir Nabokov and David Foster Wallace.edit
In David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form, David Hering analyses the structures of David Foster Wallace's fiction, from his debut The Broom of the System to his final unfinished novel The Pale King. Incorporating extensive analysis of... more
In David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form, David Hering analyses the structures of David Foster Wallace's fiction, from his debut The Broom of the System to his final unfinished novel The Pale King. Incorporating extensive analysis of Wallace's drafts, notes and letters, and taking account of the rapidly expanding field of Wallace scholarship, this book argues that the form of Wallace's fiction is always inextricably bound up within an ongoing conflict between the monologic and the dialogic, one strongly connected with Wallace's sense of his own authorial presence and identity in the work.
Hering suggests that this conflict occurs at the level of both subject and composition, analysing the importance of a number of provocative structural and critical contexts – ghostliness, institutionality, reflection – to the fiction while describing how this argument is also visible within the development of Wallace's manuscripts, comparing early drafts with published material to offer a career-long framework of the construction of Wallace's fiction. The final chapter offers an unprecedentedly detailed analysis of the troubled, decade-long construction of the work that became The Pale King.
“Since the death of David Foster Wallace, we have been waiting for a comprehensive study of his literary career, its trajectory and achievements. Through in-depth study of Wallace's published works and extensive archive, David Hering brilliantly anatomizes the author's writing via themes of vocality, visuality and spatiality. The book's final chapter, a forensic reconstruction of the drafting process for The Pale King, tells a whole new story of Wallace's creative life over his final years. An exhilarating read for fans and scholars alike, David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form represents the most significant step forward in Wallace studies for at least a decade.” – Adam Kelly, Lecturer in American Literature, University of York
Hering suggests that this conflict occurs at the level of both subject and composition, analysing the importance of a number of provocative structural and critical contexts – ghostliness, institutionality, reflection – to the fiction while describing how this argument is also visible within the development of Wallace's manuscripts, comparing early drafts with published material to offer a career-long framework of the construction of Wallace's fiction. The final chapter offers an unprecedentedly detailed analysis of the troubled, decade-long construction of the work that became The Pale King.
“Since the death of David Foster Wallace, we have been waiting for a comprehensive study of his literary career, its trajectory and achievements. Through in-depth study of Wallace's published works and extensive archive, David Hering brilliantly anatomizes the author's writing via themes of vocality, visuality and spatiality. The book's final chapter, a forensic reconstruction of the drafting process for The Pale King, tells a whole new story of Wallace's creative life over his final years. An exhilarating read for fans and scholars alike, David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form represents the most significant step forward in Wallace studies for at least a decade.” – Adam Kelly, Lecturer in American Literature, University of York
From Amazon.com Product Description: From Tristram Shandy to Fredric Jameson, Consider David Foster Wallace blazes a trail into the new territory of David Foster Wallace studies. Greg Carlisle, author of the landmark Wallace study... more
From Amazon.com Product Description:
From Tristram Shandy to Fredric Jameson, Consider David Foster Wallace blazes a trail into the new territory of David Foster Wallace studies. Greg Carlisle, author of the landmark Wallace study Elegant Complexity, provides an introduction that sets the scene and speculates on the future of Wallace studies. Editor David Hering provides a provocative look at the triangular symbols in Infinite Jest. Adam Kelly explores the intriguing question of why Wallace is considered to be at the forefront of a new sincerity in American fiction. Thomas Tracey discusses trauma in Oblivion. Gregory Phipps examines Infinite Jest's John "No Relation" Wayne and the concept of the ideal athlete. Daniel Turnbull compares Wallace's Kenyon College commencement address to the ethics of Iris Murdoch. These 17 essays stem from the first ever academic conference devoted the work of David Foster Wallace. Held in Liverpool, England, in 2009, the conference sparked a worldwide discussion of the place of Wallace's work in academia and popular culture. Essential for all Wallace scholars, fans of Wallace's fiction and nonfiction will also find the collection full of insights that span Wallace's career.
From Tristram Shandy to Fredric Jameson, Consider David Foster Wallace blazes a trail into the new territory of David Foster Wallace studies. Greg Carlisle, author of the landmark Wallace study Elegant Complexity, provides an introduction that sets the scene and speculates on the future of Wallace studies. Editor David Hering provides a provocative look at the triangular symbols in Infinite Jest. Adam Kelly explores the intriguing question of why Wallace is considered to be at the forefront of a new sincerity in American fiction. Thomas Tracey discusses trauma in Oblivion. Gregory Phipps examines Infinite Jest's John "No Relation" Wayne and the concept of the ideal athlete. Daniel Turnbull compares Wallace's Kenyon College commencement address to the ethics of Iris Murdoch. These 17 essays stem from the first ever academic conference devoted the work of David Foster Wallace. Held in Liverpool, England, in 2009, the conference sparked a worldwide discussion of the place of Wallace's work in academia and popular culture. Essential for all Wallace scholars, fans of Wallace's fiction and nonfiction will also find the collection full of insights that span Wallace's career.
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Interview on 'The Great Concavity' podcast about my forthcoming monograph David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form