Reading Nevernight

The present volume on Jay Kristoff's Nevernight (2016) was written by 25 students of Osnabrück University. It offers a selection of the contributions to an online seminar course conducted by Thomas Kullmann in the spring and summer of 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown. In chapter-by-chapter interpretations and essays on specific issues the students explore the literary techniques found in Nevernight and discuss its connections to present-day real-life experiences, to contemporary manners, ethic and politics. The volume further records the questions and comments elicited by these essays and interpretations, and the answers provided by the authors.The literary issues discussed include the identity of the narrator, the points of view chosen, imagery and other stylistic means, reader response and the concept of the implied reader, intertextuality and references to pre-texts, gender theory and postmodernism. The volume thus provides a non-dogmatic introduction to literary criticism and scholarship.A central issue of the seminar discussions recorded is the relationship between fantasy and real life, proceeding from the assumption that fantasy writing is related to life metaphorically, while a more metonymic mode is found in realist fiction. The student responses to Nevernight testify to the power of this literary text to make readers think about and discuss issues of common concern: Does the end justify the means? Is revengefulness an acceptable emotion? Can or should we trust one another? Can a childhood trauma be overcome? Can competition go along with friendship? Do love and sexuality involve obligation? Discussing the novel helped the students conceptualize these issues and demonstrated the capacity of a literary text to open channels of communication.