Dominic Dean

I am doctoral researcher in English Literature at the University of Warwick, specialising in contemporary and recent British fiction and the intersections between psychoanalysis, political history, and culture since 1980. My doctoral thesis explores the relationship between the child and authority in contemporary and recent novels, with particular interests in Ishiguro, McEwan and Peter Ackroyd.

My critical and theoretical interests coalesce around two major strands:

– The intersections between psychoanalysis and politics, especially via political representations of ambition, creativity, and desire. I'm particularly interested in texts that explore the sources of attraction to political figures and ideas in both psychological and historical terms, and in the political use of psychoanalytic or quasi-psychoanalytic-concepts. I'm also interested in what political figures read, in why and how they do so, and to what effect.

– The function of literature, including comparative literature, in representations of contemporary international politics. This involves an interdisciplinary focus on how political institutions and their obligations are represented in the context of globalisation and of the legacies of twentieth-century history.

Alongside my own research, I also work professionally on research strategy and policy for the University of Sussex.