Dr Sophie Vlacos

  • Lecturer in English Literature Post 1900 (English Literature)

telephone: 0141 330 5148
email: Sophie.Vlacos@glasgow.ac.uk

English Literature, Room 311, 5 University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QH

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716

Research interests

Research Interests: contemporary literature, Modernism, Continental philosophy, hermeneutics and contemporary critical theory.

Biography: I have a PhD in philosophy from Cardiff University (2011) and joined the School of Critical Studies at Glasgow in 2012. I have taught on a variety of (largely post-1900) courses within English Literature and supervise doctoral theses on a range of contemporary authors and theorists. In 2014 I published a monograph, Ricoeur, Literature and Imagination, with Bloomsbury, about Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy of language and the history of modern literary theory. Parts of this work have been translated into Polish and Italian. I convene the undergraduate courses ‘Writing and Ideology’ and ‘Literary Theory’ and run a research-led postgraduate course on contemporary theory and fiction, entitled ‘Contemporary Realisms’. I also head-up the staff research cluster in Critical Theory.

Recent research activities include the ‘Theory Now’ conference, which I hosted in Glasgow March 2019 and an article for the American studies journal Symbiosis, entitled ‘Freedom and mauvais foi in Eliot and Franzen’ (Fall, 2018).

Research groups

  • Contemporary Fiction
  • Literature & Philosophy
  • Modernities

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2014 | 2010
Number of items: 18.

2024

Duprat, Anne, Currie, Mark, During, Elie, Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 and Carrard, Philippe (2024) Chance, causality, temporality. In: Duprat, Anne and James, Alison (eds.) Figures of Chance II: Chance in Theory and Practice. Routledge: New York, pp. 13-64. ISBN 9781032358659 (doi: 10.4324/9781003329060-2)

2022

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2022) Paul Ricoeur and the limits of critique. In: The Challenges of Autonomy and Autonomy as a Challenge: Thinking Autonomy in Challenging Times. Kritika & Kontext: Bratislava, pp. 51-61. ISBN 9788097234089

2019

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations [Co-editor]. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations,

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Responsible individualism and mauvaise foi in middlemarch and freedom. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations, 22(2), pp. 171-195.

Gair, Christopher ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6302-3291 and Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) From Poe to Post-Postmodernism: Symbiosis, 1997–2018. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations, 22(2), pp. 125-145.

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Realisms. In: O'Gorman, Daniel and Eaglestone, Robert (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction. Series: Routledge companions to literature series. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9780415716048 (doi: 10.4324/9781315880235-10)

2018

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Habit. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 174-175. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Late modernism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 209-210. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) New criticism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 259-261. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Realism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 315-320. ISBN 9780748637027

2017

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) Critique and Complexity: Some Challenges to Contemporary Literary Theory. English Association Shared Futures Conference, Newcastle, UK, 05-07 Jul 2017. (Unpublished)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) The Hermeneutics of Suspicion; Ricoeur's Ideology and Utopia [Guest Lecture, Fonds Ricoeur, Paris]. Reconsidering Ideology and Utopia 30 Years On, Paris, France, 26-30 Jun 2017. (Unpublished)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) The Problem of Other Minds in Doctorow's Homer and Langley. Historical Fiction Conference, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK, 18 Apr 2017. (Unpublished)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) British fiction 1930-1945. Year's Work in English Studies, 96, pp. 944-952. (doi: 10.1093/ywes/max016)[Book Review]

2014

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2014) Ricoeur, Literature and Imagination. Bloomsbury: New York. ISBN 9781441135384

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2014) Unfinished Worlds: Hermeneutics, Aesthetics and Gadamer, by Nicholas Davey. Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology, 1(2), pp. 241-243. (doi: 10.2752/205393214X14083775795113)[Book Review]

2010

Humphreys, Rebekah and Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (Eds.) (2010) Creation, Environment and Ethics. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle. ISBN 9781443825085

Humphreys, R. and Vlacos, S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2010) Creation, Environment and Ethics. Cambridge Scholars: London. ISBN 9781443825085

This list was generated on Tue Jul 8 20:04:26 2025 BST.
Number of items: 18.

Articles

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations [Co-editor]. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations,

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Responsible individualism and mauvaise foi in middlemarch and freedom. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations, 22(2), pp. 171-195.

Gair, Christopher ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6302-3291 and Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) From Poe to Post-Postmodernism: Symbiosis, 1997–2018. Symbiosis: A Journal of Transatlantic Literary and Cultural Relations, 22(2), pp. 125-145.

Books

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2014) Ricoeur, Literature and Imagination. Bloomsbury: New York. ISBN 9781441135384

Humphreys, R. and Vlacos, S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2010) Creation, Environment and Ethics. Cambridge Scholars: London. ISBN 9781443825085

Book Sections

Duprat, Anne, Currie, Mark, During, Elie, Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 and Carrard, Philippe (2024) Chance, causality, temporality. In: Duprat, Anne and James, Alison (eds.) Figures of Chance II: Chance in Theory and Practice. Routledge: New York, pp. 13-64. ISBN 9781032358659 (doi: 10.4324/9781003329060-2)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2022) Paul Ricoeur and the limits of critique. In: The Challenges of Autonomy and Autonomy as a Challenge: Thinking Autonomy in Challenging Times. Kritika & Kontext: Bratislava, pp. 51-61. ISBN 9788097234089

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2019) Realisms. In: O'Gorman, Daniel and Eaglestone, Robert (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction. Series: Routledge companions to literature series. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9780415716048 (doi: 10.4324/9781315880235-10)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Habit. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 174-175. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Late modernism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 209-210. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) New criticism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 259-261. ISBN 9780748637027

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2018) Realism. In: Kolocotroni, Vassiliki and Taxidou, Olga (eds.) The Edinburgh Dictionary of Modernism. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 315-320. ISBN 9780748637027

Book Reviews

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) British fiction 1930-1945. Year's Work in English Studies, 96, pp. 944-952. (doi: 10.1093/ywes/max016)[Book Review]

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2014) Unfinished Worlds: Hermeneutics, Aesthetics and Gadamer, by Nicholas Davey. Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology, 1(2), pp. 241-243. (doi: 10.2752/205393214X14083775795113)[Book Review]

Edited Books

Humphreys, Rebekah and Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (Eds.) (2010) Creation, Environment and Ethics. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle. ISBN 9781443825085

Conference or Workshop Item

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) Critique and Complexity: Some Challenges to Contemporary Literary Theory. English Association Shared Futures Conference, Newcastle, UK, 05-07 Jul 2017. (Unpublished)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) The Hermeneutics of Suspicion; Ricoeur's Ideology and Utopia [Guest Lecture, Fonds Ricoeur, Paris]. Reconsidering Ideology and Utopia 30 Years On, Paris, France, 26-30 Jun 2017. (Unpublished)

Vlacos, Sophie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4340-5716 (2017) The Problem of Other Minds in Doctorow's Homer and Langley. Historical Fiction Conference, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK, 18 Apr 2017. (Unpublished)

This list was generated on Tue Jul 8 20:04:26 2025 BST.

Grants

Grants: Carnegie Research Incentive Grant, ‘Gesture in German Expressionism’, £1,197, 2015.

Supervision

Supervision: I am interested in supervising theses in many aspects of literary studies from the late 19th century onwards and particularly welcome projects with a strong philosophical or theoretical basis.

I currently supervise doctoral theses in the following areas:

Post-Arab Spring literature

W.B Sebald and the model

Theory-fiction and speculative realism

Contemporary literary depictions of Ottoman women

Geocritical readings of migrant fiction

  • Blackburn, Rhobet
    How can the concept of oscillation inform practical and theoretical explorations of posthuman philosophy after Adorno and Horkheimer?
  • Franks, Nadia Terese Laguna
    What is Post-Truth Literature? Navigating Western Disaster..

Teaching

Teaching:

Postgraduate
Contemporary Realisms, MLitt course option (convenor)
Core contributions to the MLitt Modernities pathway
Dissertation supervision for Modernities pathway

Honours
Literary Theory (convenor)
Modern Literature 1890-1945
Modern Literature 1945-present day
Dissertation supervision

Pre-Honours
2A Writing and Ideology (convenor)