
Literature and Epistemic Injustice (Routledge Literary Studies in Social Justice)
Author(s): Sarah Colvin (Author)
- Publisher: Routledge
- Publication Date: November 12, 2025
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 258 pages
- ISBN-10: 1032649240
- ISBN-13: 9781032649245
Book Description
A vital resource for anyone interested in literature and politics, this is the first in-depth study of epistemic injustice as a concept for literary studies. Focusing on contemporary fiction in an age of post-truth, it shows how eight novels set in different global contexts reveal epistemic injustice as an authoritarian practice and offer an aesthetics of resistance. Epistemic injustice valorises the thinking of those in power while suppressing other people’s knowledge; it declares some people omniscient and others targets for violence. This book tracks how the novels make tangible its strategic use and effects while suggesting – in their form as well as their content – that something else is possible. Bridging political philosophy and literary analysis in clear prose, this study offers exciting new stimuli for reading groups and general readers as well as for students of literature.
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Literature and Epistemic Injustice adeptly interweaves theory with rich readings of contemporary novels to give timely, vital insights into literature's role in both revealing oppression and countering it. Colvin urgently reminds us of what defines our humanity through and across difference––our need to share, learn, and be heard through stories.
-Didem Uca, Assistant Professor of German Studies, Emory University, USA
About the Author
Sarah Colvin is the Schröder Professor at the University of Cambridge, UK. She has authored and edited a number of books including Shadowland: The Story of Germany Told by its Prisoners (2022) and (with Stephanie Galasso) Epistemic Justice and Creative Agency: Global Perspectives on Literature and Film (Routledge, 2023)
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