Introduction

Abstract

This issue of Études britanniques contemporaines emanates from contributions to a workshop of the Société d’Études Anglaises Contemporaines (SEAC) at the 2022 conference of the Société des Anglicistes de l’Enseignement Supérieur in Clermont-Ferrand. The conference revolved around the notions of faults and fault lines and gave contributors the opportunity to probe the polysemic dimensions of these concepts in 20th and 21st British literature and culture. Starting from the concrete meaning of faults and fault lines in geology, articles embrace broader contexts in which splits, cracks, ruptures and rifts can lead to long-lasting divisions but may also pave the way for new explorations. In addition to contributions engaging with the notions of faults and fault lines, this issue includes an essay on John Lanchester’s Capital (2012) and two reviews of books on modernism and the recycling of Virginia Woolf in contemporary art and literature.

Keywords

• ruptures
• fractures
• geology
• instability
• fragmentation
• dislocation