Joakim Wrethed Professor

Contact

Name and title: Joakim WrethedProfessor

Mail: joakim.wrethed@english.su.se

Workplace: Department of English Länk till annan webbplats.

Visiting address Room E 877Universitetsvägen 10 E, plan 8

Office hours By appointment or in relation to teaching.

Postal address Engelska institutionen106 91 Stockholm

Research group

About me

J. Wrethed has published extensively within Irish Studies—especially on John Banville—but he also explores the contemporary novel in English more generally without any primary emphasis on national boundaries. Phenomenology, postmodernism, aesthetics, gothic literature and theology are overarching topics of his scholarly work. Some of the more recent publications have been on the postmodern gothic, the gothic origins of Charles Maturin, aesthetics, hauntology and mimetic theory. Wrethed has also published on Yeats, Joyce and Beckett. In 2026, he will publish a book on John Banville's crime fiction and several articles on Banville, art and ethics, and the problem of long form reading within higher education.

 

Most recent publications:

J. Wrethed, Epistemology and Secrecy in John Banville's Crime Fiction, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026. E-book:

Epistemology and Secrecy in John Banville’s Crime Fiction | Springer Nature Link

J. Wrethed, “The Nobel Prize, Spectral Aesthetics, and Alchemy in Yeats and Strindberg,” International Yeats Studies: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 8, 2025. Available at:

“The Nobel Prize, Spectral Aesthetics, and Alchemy in Yeats and Strindberg” by Joakim Wrethed

J. Wrethed, Gothic Hauntology: Everyday Hauntings and Epistemological Desire, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. E-book:

Gothic Hauntology: Everyday Hauntings and Epistemological Desire | SpringerLink

 

Forthcoming:

J. Wrethed, “Philosophical Influences” in John Banville In Context, Bryan Radley & Nick Taylor-Collins (eds), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2026.

J. Wrethed, “The Ugly Phallos and the Shit Hare: The Aesthetics of the Unaesthetic and the Ethics of the Unethical”, Yearbook of English Studies 2026.

J. Wrethed, “John Williams’s Stoner and the Phenomenon of Reading in the Multimedia Age”, A Reading Crisis? The Challenges and Affordances of Reading Generally and Reading Fiction Specifically, D. de Muijnck, A. Klishevich, J. Wrethed, E. Wåghäll Nivre (eds), TBA, 2026.

J. Wrethed, “Presence [Anwesenheit] and Gothic Elementality in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping (1980)”, Gothic Presence, Mattias Pirholt & Claudia Lindén (eds), TBA, 2026.

J. Wrethed, “Lovecraft’s Dark Phenomenology”, Lovecraft’s Philosophy: Architect of Weird Providence, Steven K. Stakland, Emile Alexandrov & Alexander O’Neill (eds), London: Routledge, 2027.

 

Projects:

A Reading Crisis? The Challenges and Affordances of Reading Generally and Reading Fiction Specifically, D. de Muijnck, A. Klishevich, J. Wrethed, E. Wåghäll Nivre (eds), Stockholm: The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History, and Antiquities, 2026.

Special Issue of Yearbook of English Studies 2026: What Remains? Literature and Ethics in a Time of Crisis, C. Palmstierna Einarsson, P. Vermeulen, J. Wrethed (eds).

The graduate school CuEEd-LL – Culturally Empowering Education through Language and Literature is a national research school that aims to strengthen Swedish teacher education by studying and developing culturally empowering education through language and literature. CuEEd-LL is funded by The Swedish Research Council and led by Jönköping University in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg, Malmö University and Stockholm University.



Dissertation. Oases of Air: A Phenomenological Study of John Banville's Science Tetralogy, 2006.

urn:nbn:se:su:diva-942

DiVA - Search result

  1. Armstrong CI, Wrethed J, editors. Volume 9, Issue 1 (2025) : Yeats and the Nobel Prize [Internet]. Clemson University Digital Press; 2025. 180 p. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-242529
  2. Halldin M, Wrethed J. Stockholm, Stora Nygatan, and the City Writing of August Strindberg. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban Literary Studies [Internet]. Palgrave Macmillan; 2022. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-202110
  3. Wrethed J. “‘A Momentous Nothing’‘ : The Phenomenology of Life, Ekphrasis and Temporality in John Banville’s The Sea. In: The Crossings of Art in Ireland [Internet]. Bern: Peter Lang Publishing Group; 2014. p. 183–211. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-96062
  4. Wrethed J. Afterword in John Banville, Motivet [trans. of The Book of Evidence] [Internet]. Stockholm: Modernista; 2017. 5 p. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-188313
  5. Wrethed J. Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho as a Palimpsest of the Theories of Girard, Gans and de Andrade. Anthropoetics [Internet]. 2021;XXVII(1). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-198288
  6. Wrethed J. Cancel Culture and the Trope of the Scapegoat : A Girardian Defense of the Importance of Contemplative Reading. Contagion [Internet]. 2022;29:15–38. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-206818
  7. Wrethed J. Charles Maturin Revisited. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Gothic Origins [Internet]. Palgrave Macmillan; 2022. p. 555–71. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-200378
  8. Wrethed J. Chiasm, Epoché, and Synergy : The Metaphorical Style in John Banville’s Art Trilogy. Nordic Irish Studies [Internet]. 2008;7:91–102. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-16104
  9. Wrethed J. “‘Cloud’s red, earth feeling, sky that thinks‘: John Banville’s Aesth/ethics : [‘Nuvem vermelha, terra sentindo, ceu que pensa’: Est/etica de John Banville]. ABEI - Associação Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses [ABEI Journal: The Brazilian Journal of Irish Studies] [Internet]. 2020;22(1):183–96. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184788
  10. Wrethed J. Conceptual and Performative Art in Tom McCarthy, Michel Houellebecq, and Don DeLillo. In: The Routledge Companion to Literature and Art [Internet]. London: Routledge; 2024. p. 480–91. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-227240
  11. Wrethed J. Darklings of the World, Unite and Take Over : Om Keats, Morrissey, kärleken och döden. Populär poesi [Internet]. 2021; Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-196908
  12. Wrethed J. Divine (In)Justice in Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer. In 2021. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-193091
  13. Wrethed J. Ethical Perspectives on Irish Conflicts and the Thematised Mise En Abîme in John Banville’s Fiction [Internet]. 10th Biennial Conference of the Nordic Irish Studies Network: Irreconcilable differences? Peace and Conflict in Irish Literature, Culture, and Politics, Kristiansand, Norway, May 3-5, 2018; 2018. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-156295
  14. Wrethed J. Gothic Hauntology : Everyday Hauntings and Epistemological Desire [Internet]. London: Palgrave Macmillan; 2023. 165 p. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-221592
  15. Wrethed J. Hjalmar Söderberg’s Stockholm : The Precinematic Flâneur in Förvillelser [Diversions]. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban Literary Studies [Internet]. London: Palgrave Macmillan; 2022. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-202111
  16. Wrethed J. ‘Horribly, pleasurable transgression’ : Metaphor, Theology and Evil in John Banville"s The Book of Evidence. In: Beyond Ireland : Encounters Across Cultures [Internet]. Oxford: Peter Lang; 2011. p. 217–40. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-50901
  17. Wrethed J. I am a place : Aletheia as Aesthetic and Political Resistance in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture [Internet]. 2015;7. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-118898
  18. Wrethed J. ‘In an Artist’s Studio’ by Christina Rossetti as Seeing Without Seeing: Girard, Heidegger, Scotus and Marion. In 2019. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-170890
  19. Wrethed J. Ireland. In: Handbook of Anglophone World Literatures [Internet]. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter; 2020. p. 313–32. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184789
  20. Wrethed J. Irish History, Ethics, the Alethic, and Mise En Abîme in John Banville’s Fiction. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies [Internet]. 2021;27(2). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-199727
  21. Wrethed J. John Banville and Hugo von Hofmannsthal : Language, mundane revelation and profane sacrality. In: John Banville and His Precursors [Internet]. Bloomsbury Academic; 2019. p. 146–62. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-170553
  22. Wrethed J. John Williams’s Stoner and Literature as Dark Matter in the Age of Educational Managerialism. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies [Internet]. 2019;25(1):151–60. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-170477
  23. Wrethed J. Keats and Yeats are on your side, while Wilde is on mine : The Reincarnations of Death. In 2020. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-187546
  24. Wrethed J. Matter, Screens, Buffering, Veils, Text and Texture in Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island [Internet]. Media Matter: Media-Archaeological Research and Artistic Practice, Stockholm, Sweden, November 27-29, 2019; 2019. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-176463
  25. Wrethed J. Mnemonic air in John Banville’s Science tetralogy. In: Recovering memory : Irish representations of past and present [Internet]. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge; 2007. p. 280–90. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-18051
  26. Wrethed J. No immanence for old men : the art of acting in John Banville’s Eclipse and Philip Roth’s The Humbling. NIS [Internet]. 2012;11(1):121–31. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-77266
  27. Wrethed J. Representation, Ritual, and the Sacred in Tom McCarthy’s Remainder : A Phenomenological Interpretation of Eric Gans’s Minimal and Secondary Hypotheses. In: GASC2017 : Generative Anthropology Society Conference, June 8-10 [Internet]. 2017. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-144453
  28. Wrethed J. Spectral Aesthetics in Yeats and Strindberg. In 2023. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-230613
  29. Wrethed J. Suffering as the Embodiment of the Sacred in Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s ‘A Letter’ and ‘Tale of the 672nd Night’ [Internet]. 12th Annual GASC: Generative Anthropology and Transdisciplinary Inquiry: Religion, Science, Language, Culture, Warsaw, Poland, June 21-23, 2018; 2018. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157601
  30. Wrethed J. Suffering as the Embodiment of the Sacred in Hugo von Hofmannsthal‘s ’A Letter‘ and ’Tale of the 672nd Night". Anthropoetics [Internet]. 2018;24(1). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-162249
  31. Wrethed J. The Aesthetics of the Flesh in John Banville’s The Book of Evidence, Eclipse and Shroud. NIS [Internet]. 2010;9:49–70. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-43210
  32. Wrethed J. The (Anti-)Ecology of Nietzschean Aesthetics in Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island [Internet]. The Great Environmental Switch: Ecology, Technology, and Thinking Conference on the New Ecological Paradigm with Erich Hörl, Stockholm, Sweden, 20 - 21 May, 2019; 2019. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-169161
  33. Wrethed J. The Border Within : John Williams’ Stoner and Literature as Dark Matter in the Age of Learnification. In: English Across Borders : Celebrating the Diversity of the English Language [Internet]. 2017. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-142270
  34. Wrethed J. The Ethics of the Unethical as the Cognition of the Aesthetics of the Unaesthetic. In 2024. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-232820
  35. Wrethed J. The Experiential Motivation of Metaphors : On a Poem by Carol Ann Duffy, Phenomenology, and Cognitive Linguistics. In: Selected Papers from the 2006 and 2007 Stockholm Metaphor Festivals [Internet]. Stockholm: Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis; 2008. p. 43–52. (Stockholm studies in English). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-17131
  36. Wrethed J. The Girardian Event and the Literary Event : The Scapegoat and Revelation in Alice Munro’s ‘Runaway’ . Contagion [Internet]. 2024;31:53–70. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-232152
  37. Wrethed J. The infinities by John Banville. Estudios Irlandeses [Internet]. 2010;(5):201–2. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-37617
  38. Wrethed J. The Invisible Apocalyptic City : The Affectivity of Urbanity, Movement, and Desire in William Blake’s ‘London’, Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis, and Ivan Vladislavić’s The Exploded View. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies [Internet]. 2016;22(2):305–25. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-137666
  39. Wrethed J. The Oil-Flower Unfurling Its Petals : The Phenomenological Aesthetics of Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island. C21 literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings [Internet]. 2022;9(1). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-206819
  40. Wrethed J. The Perpetual Return of the Scapegoat : N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy and Identity Politics [Internet]. Mimesis Scandinavis; 2021. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-199726
  41. Wrethed J. The Phenomenology of Representation, Ritual, and the Sacred in Tom McCarthy’s Remainder. Anthropoetics [Internet]. 2017;23(1). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-149408
  42. Wrethed J. The Postmodern Genre. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic [Internet]. Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. p. 1123–36. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-184286
  43. Wrethed J. This paper is not about Michel Houellebecq or Tom McCarthy. It is about the reading of literature. In 2021. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-196906
  44. Wrethed J. ʻWhere danger is, there rescue growsʼ : Technology, Time, and Dromology in Tom McCarthy’s C. C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century writings [Internet]. 2017;5(3). Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-206820
  45. Wrethed J, Friberg-Harnesk H, Porter G, editors. Beyond Ireland : encounters across cultures [Internet]. Bern: Peter Lang; 2011. 334 p. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-54383
  46. Wrethed J, Uddén A. Coverage or Depth : Teaching Literary History Courses at the University. In 2015. Available from: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-120748

 


Contact

Name and title: Joakim WrethedProfessor

Mail: joakim.wrethed@english.su.se

Workplace: Department of English Länk till annan webbplats.

Visiting address Room E 877Universitetsvägen 10 E, plan 8

Office hours By appointment or in relation to teaching.

Postal address Engelska institutionen106 91 Stockholm

Research group

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