Professor Nikolaj Lübecker wins R. Gapper Book Prize 2023

The Society for French Studies has announced that the winner of the R. Gapper Book Prize 2023 is Professor Nikolaj Lübecker, for Twenty-First-Century Symbolism (Liverpool University Press).

This was a unanimous decision and the jury made the following statement about Professor Lübecker's book:

'Twenty-First-Century Symbolism offers a series of powerful close readings of selected texts by Verlaine, Baudelaire and Mallarmé as part of a remarkable philosophical and poetic response to the current challenges and realities of the technological age. It demonstrates an impeccable knowledge and understanding of twentieth and early twenty-first century philosophy and critical theory, drawing on (with the lightest of touches) affect theory, ecocriticism, technology studies, media theory, theories of cognition and embodiment, art history, philosophy, cybernetics and gaming. The jury agreed that this book is a model for trans-disciplinary scholarship. It revisits these three poets and asks ‘what they can do for us’ today, reading them against the grain of conventional readings and boldly casting new light on how we are impacted by them.'

Many congratulations, Nikolaj!