• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ransom Center Magazine

  • Sections
    • Art
    • Books + Manuscripts
    • Conservation
    • Exhibitions + Events
    • Film
    • Literature
    • Photography
    • Research + Teaching
    • Theatre + Performing Arts
  • Archive
  • Print Edition

Exploring Don DeLillo’s novels from the “long nineties”

August 10, 2016 - Jennifer Tisdale

Exploring Don DeLillo’s novels from the “long nineties”

Fellow-2016-17-circle

Joe Rollins, a Ph.D. student at the University of York, is one of five scholars from the United Kingdom who will be conducting research at the Ransom Center in the next year as part of the 2016–2017 International Placement Scheme (IPS) administered and funded by the United Kingdom’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The AHRC provides residential fellowships to doctoral students and early-career researchers from the United Kingdom to study at international libraries and research institutions, and the Ransom Center serves as one of seven host institutions.

Joe Rollins
Joe Rollins

Tell us about your research.

My research will focus on the Don DeLillo papers at the Ransom Center, particularly on the holdings that correspond to the author’s novels from the 1990s. This research is intended to contribute to my Ph.D. thesis, which looks at how American fiction in the 1990s experiments with forms of resistance to the dominant politics of the decade. I’m particularly interested in finding out what DeLillo thinks about the figure of the artist and the role of art in this period, especially in terms of art’s social and political impact, and whether his ideas then can tell us something important today.

Which collections at the Ransom Center are most relevant to your research?

The Don DeLillo papers. My research is primarily intended to contribute to the final chapter of my thesis, which will be a single-author study of DeLillo’s three novels written in the “long nineties,” the period 1989–2001.

Outside your primary research interest, are there other collection items at the Ransom Center that you hope to see?

I would also like to see the David Foster Wallace collection.

Can you share a particularly exciting moment of discovery while working in other research libraries or special collections?

This is my first time carrying out research in an archive, but I anticipate many exciting finds. I’m particularly looking forward to reading the correspondence between DeLillo and David Foster Wallace, who I will also be studying as part of my thesis.

Beyond researching, what is at the top of your must-see/do list while in Austin?

I’m lucky enough to be in town for SXSW 2017, so I’ll definitely be attending some of the events (and parties) during the festival. Apart from that, I’m looking forward to exploring the city and immersing myself in American culture, checking out Austin’s famous music scene, the Austin Film Society, and of course eating lots of great BBQ!

Fellowship image 2016_large

Filed Under: Research + Teaching Tagged With: AHRC, American fiction, Arts and Humanities Research Council, David Foster Wallace, Don DeLillo, Fellowships

About Jennifer Tisdale

Tisdale is responsible for identifying, planning, and implementing strategic public affairs activities and programs that range from media relations to social media at the Ransom Center.

Primary Sidebar

Archive

Tags

acquisition Alice's Adventures in Wonderland archive archives Art Books Cataloging Conservation Council on Library and Information Resources David Foster Wallace David O. Selznick digitization exhibition Exhibitions Fellows Find Fellowships Film Frank Reaugh Frank Reaugh: Landscapes of Texas and the American West Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel Garcia Marquez archive Gone with the Wind I have seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America Lewis Carroll literature Magnum Photos Manuscripts Meet the Staff Nobel Prize Norman Bel Geddes Norman Mailer Performing Arts Photography poetry preservation Publishing Research Robert De Niro Shakespeare theater The King James Bible: Its History and Influence The Making of Gone With The Wind Undergraduate What is Research? World War I

Recent Posts

  • The Knickerbocker Theatre Collapse
  • On the Record: Black Creators and the Jazz Age
  • Ransom Center experience leads to new challenge
  • Films represented in the Drawing the Motion Picture exhibition
  • Celebrate with us in 2023

Before Footer

Sign up for eNews

Our monthly newsletter highlights news, exhibitions, and programs.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

About

Ransom Center Magazine is an online and print publication sharing stories and news about the Harry Ransom Center, its collections, and the creative community surrounding it.

Copyright © 2023 Harry Ransom Center

Web Accessibility · Web Privacy