Literature and Ethics in a Time of Crisis: Yearbook English Studies 56

The 2026 volume of the Yearbook of English Studies, edited by Charlotta Palmstierna Einarsson, Pieter Vermeulen, and Joakim Wrethed, presents a selection of essays on the subject of Literature and Ethics in a Time of Crisis. At a time of multiple global crises - environmental, geopolitical, economic, technological, demographic - and at a time in which the very survival of English Studies as a discipline seems to be at stake, the volume makes the case for the continued relevance of literature as a site for querying and illuminating ethical complexity. The eighteen essays presented here position English Studies in a trans-national literary context, exploring new emphases in long-running discussions of literary ethics, covering such areas as the environmental humanities, the interfaces of mental health and literary ethics, the ethics of witnessing, and the problem of the literary rendition of ethically charged content. Together, the essays present a foundation for an updated sense of what literary ethics can be.