No man’s lands in Literature and Theory

Abstract

No man’s lands in literature and in cultural theory stand for different, even contradictory narratives of space and property, each of which comments on and criticizes the other. In Cicero and Roman Law, in John Locke´s and Rousseau´s works, in Goethe´s Faust but also in contemporary theories about shared ownership and commons the concept, idea and problem of “non-ownership” or “empty land” is dealt with.  No Man´s Lands embody the disconcerting concept of non- ownership and of more- or less- ownership that provokes fantasies of conquest as well as dreams of liberty and safety.

The talk presents a reflection on No man’s Lands, especially literary No Man’s Lands, and their function, form, narration, and proliferation, and on how stories of possession or appropriation, loss and destruction, ownership and “property-lessness” can be told, in other words, also on what literature has to say about property - and its opposite. The focus is not primarily on ownership per se, but above all on what happens in and with places and spaces that are not at all, or not actually owned.

Places are limited and so any academic colleagues or students interested in attending in person should register. Registration form here.