Over the past four decades, interdisciplinary literary studies have been thriving. Inspired by “turns“ such as the iconic, the material, and the spatial ones, the discipline of literary studies has aligned itself productively with other disciplines, as well as incorporated a vast range of methodologies not originally developed for literary studies. This presentation will reflect on how interdisciplinary literary studies have succeeded in valorizing the core discipline by demonstrating its relevance in relation to a range of different fields. At a time where the discipline is challenged by an increasing focus on non-humanities fields, interdisciplinarity has developed into a significant valorization tool. More than that, it has changed the nature of publishing in top-level journals, for text-based criticism alone—without an integral interdisciplinary component—is often considered to be insufficient on its own. The presentation will briefly focus on the advantages of three turns (the iconic, the material, and the spatial ones) and how their introduction has strengthened literary studies. It will then proceed to a discussion of the opportunities this research creates for publishing high-level articles and illustrate, on the basis of concrete examples, how literary studies research can be enhanced through an interdisciplinary outlook. Finally, concrete advice will be given on the publishing of research in a range of international journals and how opportunities can be maximized to publish internationally.
