Johanna Decker

Johanna Decker studied English and German at the University of Heidelberg and at Bristol University graduating with a double-major in 2020.

Where We Meet Each Other: The Depiction of Conviviality Within the Contemporary American Novel.

In her dissertation project, Johanna Decker closely analyzes a set of 21st-century novels, paying special attention to practices and places of conviviality which facilitate interactions based on thin trust. Within literary texts these informal public encounters, in which trust and mistrust emerge, serve as a plot-driving and character-defining tool; however, they are seldomly the focus of readers or scholars. This project argues that the sociological lens of conviviality can help to redirect the attention to neglected aspects of the literary works, providing new insights and alternative interpretations.