My doctoral research is carried out in collaboration with Writing West Midlands (hereafter WWM), the Birmingham-based literature agency dedicated to promoting creative writing and reading. My thesis examines discourses of ‘value’ in contemporary English literary culture. Specifically, I explicitly explore the literary, sociological, and philosophical conditions under which new literary works are received and evaluated. Influenced by – but not confined to – post-qualitative inquiry, my diffractive methodology challenges dominant approaches to both ontology and epistemology by implicitly addressing two core questions: (i) how to define research, researched, and researched (i.e., ontological problem)? and (ii) how to re-present the multiple faces of the truth (i.e., epistemological problem)?

My first chapter focuses on Arts Council England (hereafter ACE)’s synecdochic construal of value, whereby value simultaneously refers to economic (money) or humanistic (happiness) pursuits. In so doing, ACE enacts the idea that happiness can be measured and quantified – a symptom of scientism. Since the funding cuts of 2010, ACE has adopted two key strategies to evidence the value of culture: (i) recruiting well-being econometrics to show value through Social Return on Investment (hereafter SROI) and (ii) commissioning Evidence-Based Research (hereafter EBR) aimed to perform cultural advocacy. The reliance on – and popularity of – SROI and EBR needs to be understood within the wider context of consumer capitalism, the rise of positive psychology, and the increased reports of depression and chronic fatigue syndrome (hereafter ME/CFS). Through a detailed analysis of SROI and EBR reports, my research exposes the limitations of both methodologies in accurately assessing the value of culture with an emphasis on literature. These limitations include: inappropriate analytical methods, ethically questionable conceptual frameworks, and the gap between ACE’s self-appointed role as the ‘guardian of literary culture’ and its market-driven practices. Finally – taking WWM as an exemplar – I reflect on the ways in which National Portfolio Organisations (hereafter NPOs), perhaps despite their own values, are increasingly encouraged to adopt these same restrictive methodologies to secure future funding.

My second chapter discusses hegemonic discourses of value as they intersect with feel-good literature, online discourses of ME/CFS recovery, our culture of immediacy, our society’s fetishisation of self-help (to cure one’s mental and physical diseases) and self-improvement (to increase one’s performance and success). During times of personal and cultural crises, a majority of readers turn to feel-good romance and pop poetry for comfort and escapism. I read the production and reception of Donna Ashworth’s Wild Hope and Kim Nash’s Escape to the Country – among others – diffractively through the lenses of mass-entertainment consumer culture, mental capitalism, performative vulnerability and sincerity (assessed in the author – ad hominem), the instrumentalisation of imagination in popular self-help, and atomism. This chapter is structured into three main sections. The first section examines readers’ attraction to feel-good genres, framed by two types of knowledge activation: archetypal – where the myth of the personal salvation narrative is both reproduced and coproduced – and cultural. The second section investigates the appeal of feel-good genres in relation to contemporary inclinations towards magical thinking – an extreme version of positive psychology – and infantilism. The third section considers feel-good literature as an atomistic literature of the ego – despite its social nature – thriving within both capitalist frameworks and mindfulness culture’s emphasis on the present moment as the ultimate value.

My third chapter delves into counter-hegemonic discourses of value as they interweave with ‘difficult’ literature – works that are stylistically complex and/or emotionally or intellectually demanding – alongside literary events and festivals (focusing on WWM), publicly-funded literature (focusing on ACE), the renewed popularity of the Greek art of self-cultivation and eudaimonia, the decline of long therapies such as psychoanalysis, and the rise of the Slow movement. During times of personal and cultural crises, some readers turn to literary fiction, high-quality non-fiction, and poetry for understanding and catharsis. I read the production and reception of Roz Goddard’s Small Moon Curve and Marianne Brooker’s Intervals: A Politics of Care – among others – diffractively through the lenses of traditional literary culture, anti-capitalism, authenticity and vulnerability (assessed in the literary writing – ad valorem), and the ideal of a pluralist society. This chapter is structured into three main sections. The first section examines readers’ attraction to difficult genres in light of defamiliarisation, whereby textual features (at a micro level) enable readers to construct alternative cultural schemas (at a macro level) and, in so doing, creates opportunities to question the status quo. The second section investigates the appeal of difficult genres in fostering mature pro-social behaviours and intelligence. The third section considers difficult literature as community-oriented – despite its individual nature – whose value lies in understanding the past and mapping the present to imagine a different future.  

Finally, after summarising my findings, I engage policymakers in a discussion on a key knowledge-gap requiring attention: the merging of ‘pop’ and ‘traditional’ poetry in ACE’s policy, despite both genres attracting distinct audiences and promoting different values. I also highlight two significant practice-gaps that reveal inconsistencies:  (i) the interplay between market-driven practices and artistic autonomy, which leads ACE to promote opposite values simultaneously, and (ii) the gap between the recognition and inclusion of popular literary practices by NPOs – particularly WWM – and their ongoing invisibility in ACE’s official documents and policies.

[Updated November 2024]