Afterword: new horizons in materiality and literature

Abstract

This article is an afterword (in every sense of that word) on a special collection about “materiality and literature.” It follows up on a promise that Thomas Bremer makes at the end of the Introduction to the special issue, where he acknowledges that there are “new horizons” waiting to be explored in theorizing about the topic. Most prominently visible on these new horizons, but not mentioned in the articles themselves, is what has been called “the new materialism.” This article explores very briefly the contributions of this burgeoning field, touching on matters relating with the current Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and the state of the humanities itself.