Personal profile
Teaching
Natasha's teaching interests lie in twentieth century and contemporary literature, particularly contemporary historical fiction, women's writing, visual culture and gay and lesbian fiction.
Research interests
Natasha's main research interest is British second generation fiction about the Two World Wars, or 'postmemory fiction'. Her doctoral work examines how the desire to bear witness to their parents' experiences, and to explore the enduring effects of the wars, compels some authors to write about the conflicts. Lacking experiences of their own, they turn to the historical record; her recent research has focussed on how authors use historical source material, exploring, for example, the ways in which Ian McEwan's novel Atonement (2001) is built on many different historical sources such as novels, letters, memoirs and military histories. She argues that the ways in which the authors under discussion deployed researched historical material revealed yet a further evolution of Linda Hutcheon's historiographic metafiction, and a perhaps surprising move away from historical relativism. Her current work seeks to look beyond the use of source material, to analyse a broader spectrum of contemporary postmemory fiction revisiting the First and Second World Wars and asks why so many contemporary authors, many of them born long after 1918 and even 1945, return to those years.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Introduction
Alden, T. & Tolan, F., 01 Jan 2026, Jackie Kay: Critical Essays. 1st ed. Taylor and Francis A.S., p. 1-17 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword/postscript
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Jackie Kay: Critical Essays
Alden, T. & Tolan, F., 01 Jan 2026, Taylor & Francis. 153 p.Research output: Book/Report › Edited book
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Quakerish Lady? Iris Murdoch and the Religious Society of Friends
Alden, T., 2024, (Accepted/In press) Iris Murdoch and the Western Theological Imagination . Leeson, M. & White, F. (eds.). Springer NatureResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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‘A Small Victory for Love over Death’: The Haunted Narratives of I Am, I Am, I Am, Instructions for a Heatwave and The Hand that First Held Mine
Alden, T., 01 Jan 2023, Maggie O’Farrell: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Bloomsbury, p. 75-88 14 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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From the effective to the affective: Postmemory in Emma Donoghue’s The Sealed Letter
Alden, N., 10 Sept 2020, In: Contemporary Women's Writing. 14, 1, p. 107-124 18 p., vpaa017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (SciVal)133 Downloads (Pure) -
Sarah Waters
Alden, N., 29 Sept 2020, Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Contemporary British and Irish Literature. Bradford, R., Gonzalez, M., Butler, S., Ward, J. & de Ornellas, K. (eds.). Wiley, p. 481-490 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
File1 Citation (Scopus)293 Downloads (Pure) -
'Accompanied by Ghosts': The Changing Uses of the Past in Sarah Waters's Lesbian Fiction
Alden, N., 08 Aug 2016, Sarah Waters and Contemporary Feminisms. Jones, A. & O'Callaghan, C. (eds.). Springer Nature, p. 61-78Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
3 Citations (Scopus) -
"History with the shatter marks": Adam Thorpe in Conversation with Natasha Alden
Alden, N., 2015, The Fiction of History. Macfie, A. L. (ed.). Taylor & Francis, p. 193-205 (Routledge Approached to History).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Reading Behind the Lines: Postmemory in Contemporary British Fiction
Alden, N., 30 Jan 2014, Manchester University Press. 208 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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In Parenthesis Revisited: Adam Thorpe's ecological rereading of David Jones
Alden, N., 2013, In: International Journal of Welsh Writing in English. p. 45-59Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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‘Possibility, pleasure and peril’: The Night Watch as a very literary history
Alden, T., 18 Jul 2013, Sarah Waters: Contemporary Critical Perspectives . Mitchell, K. (ed.). BloomsburyResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Projects
- 3 Finished
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The Language of IVF
Alden, T. (Project Lead)
Economic and Social Research Council
01 Mar 2025 → 31 Aug 2025
Project: Impact & Knowledge Exchange
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Visiting Fellowship: Leila Aboulela and Muslim Women: From Recue to Resistance (Dr Sadia Zulfiqar)
Alden, T. (Project Lead)
31 Aug 2023 → 31 May 2024
Project: Externally funded research
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Rethinking flight, persecution and war: how do we define postmemory now - Conference and Network
Alden, T. (Project Lead) & Hammel, A. (Researcher Co‑Lead)
01 Oct 2020 → 31 Jul 2021
Project: Externally funded research
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Launch of Manuela Perrotta's book Biomedical Innovation in the Hope Market: Evidence Challenges and Commercialization in Fertility Care (Bristol University Press)
Alden, T. (Speaker) & Perrotta, M. (Speaker)
19 Sept 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Eleventh International Iris Murdoch Conference
Alden, T. (Participant)
30 Aug 2024 → 01 Sept 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference
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Narratives of Reproduction network launch workshop
Alden, T. (Organiser)
26 Jul 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Workshop, Seminar, or Course
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IVF Add-Ons: How Should We Score the HFEA's New Ratings System?
Alden, T. (Participant)
07 Feb 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Workshop, Seminar, or Course
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Decolonising the Library Roundtable
Alden, T. (Organiser)
18 Dec 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Workshop, Seminar, or Course
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Rethinking flight, persecution and war: how do we define postmemory now
Alden, T. (Organiser), Hammel, A. (Participant) & McMurtry, A. (Organiser)
20 Jun 2022 → 22 Jun 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference
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Jackie Kay
Alden, T. (Participant) & Tolan, F. (Organiser)
03 Jun 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference
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Iris Murdoch and the Ethical Imagination: Legacies and Innovations
Alden, T. (Participant)
10 Oct 2019 → 11 Oct 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference
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Iris Murdoch Centenary Conference
Alden, T. (Participant)
13 Jul 2019 → 15 Jul 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Conference