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The books Autumn, Winter and Spring by Scottish author Ali Smith are a series of novels published very close to their time of writing. Often referred to as post-Brexit literature, these books were written in response to political developments in the United Kingdom between circa 2016 and 2019. They are to form a seasonal quartet; at the time of writing the last instalment, Summer, was not yet published. Against the political backdrop of post-referendum Britain, Smith’s these novels chronicles the lives of characters from different generations, who are tied to each other through family relations, friendship or circumstance. References to actual and fictional art feature heavily in the seasonal quartet, forming a network of relations between actual and fictional artworks and artists. Although these novels can be read separately, a lineage between some of the characters arises when reading all three, creating a literary family of some sorts. This thesis explores how these multilayered networks function in portraying an image of life in Britain under the current social and political circumstances. It focusses on Autumn and Winter and includes brief notes on Spring, placing these novels in the tradition of the social novel and more specifically the recent historical novel and post-Brexit literature. It provides an overview of the significance of the themes of family and gender in Smith’s oeuvre, followed by an introduction to our thinking about family and how this theme can be explored in literature. Its main objective is an exploration of the family relations in Autumn and Winter, while also taking into account the role of friendship, gender and sexuality. Finally, it charts the artistic and political networks that are established in these books. Key findings are that in Smith’s novels as well as in the actual world, political differences slice through families and generation cohorts. Smith suggests art as a means of overcoming these differences, both on a personal and on a societal level. Intergenerational friendships play a pivotal role in these works, though they are rare in real life. Smith shows how the lived experience of friendship today deviates from the way friendship is valued by law and regulations. Finally, as often in Smith’s work, the topics of gender and sexuality are never far away. Autumn and Winter both highlight the works of an underrated female visual artist, connecting these artworks to the lives of the characters in these novels as well as their political reality.

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Hoe ontstond het cliché dat blondjes dom zijn? Wie maakte de allereerste selfie? Hoe dodelijk is een deadline? Klopt het dat Brussel ooit de hoofdstad van de pornografie was? En hoelang worden we al zat op feestjes? Sofie Lemaire gaat graag op onderzoek uit naar de geschiedenis van gewone dingen. Eeuwenoude tradities zoals de kerstboom, alledaagse voorwerpen zoals toiletpapier en typische gewoontes zoals kussen passeren de revue. En bij dat onderzoek komt ze niet zelden tot verrassende vaststellingen. Dit boek bundelt de plezantste onderwerpen van de podcast Snelle geschiedenis en graaft nog wat dieper in de wonderlijke geschiedenis van de menselijke vindingrijkheid.

Folklore --- Western world --- geschiedenis --- sociale geschiedenis --- Geschiedenis --- Weetjes