Jacob Miller
- School: School of English, Drama and Film
- Supervisors: Dr Sharae Deckard & Dr Adam Kelly
Hauntology: Neoliberalism and Alienation in Anglo-American Fiction, 1980 to the Present
Jacob’s research focuses on the literary aesthetic of hauntology in English, Scottish and American fiction published after 1980. His project examines the ambivalence of hauntology towards post-war past, arguing that although these works favourably contrast post-war State-Keynesianism and the New Deal Order with the neoliberalization which followed, they also unsettle idealised notions of the post-war era. These hauntological fictions illuminate the repressed contradictions of capitalism, mobilizing spectral imagery and themes of trauma to highlight how state-Keynesianism and the New Deal Order were based on forms of exploitation and imperialism. This research will demonstrate how nostalgia for a time before neoliberalization has been essential to the rise of contemporary authoritarianisms and the role literature can play in reinforcing or challenging idealised conceptions of the past.
Jacob Miller was born in Tameside, Greater Manchester in 1995. He graduated from the University of York with a BA in English in 2016. He then completed an MA in Modern and
Contemporary Literature and Culture in 2017, also at the University of York.
Irish Research Council Doctoral Student
Contact details:
Tel: +353-1-716 4682
Email: (opens in a new window)jacob.miller@ucdconnect.ie