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Monday 4th November - 06:00 PM GMT

Headline Debate: The crisis of the new

Is the idea of the new a fantasy?

'From fashion to fantasy, entertainment to enterprise, we seek the 'new' as the means to originality, change, and creativity. And for the most part, we imagine the new is always identifiable as a radical break from the past. But the nature of the new is more elusive and unknown than it first appears. Three thousand years ago, King Solomon said: "what has been will be again, there is nothing new under the sun." From a contemporary perspective, we can recognise that every new idea is a combination of previous insights, every story a combination of past narratives. From Neoclassicism to the Renaissance, from fashion trends to film, we're always rehashing the old. If a work were entirely new it would be unintelligible.  

Is the new an illusion, and the search for originality a mistake? Should creative endeavour be focussed on other goals, such as the timeless, the provocative, and the beautiful?  Or is the new an essential part of life, creativity and action, without which we would have mere passive re-orderings of the known?

 

Timetable:

18:00 GMT - Headline Debate: The crisis of the new arena

Stanley Fish

Renowned literary critic

Stanley Fish is a literary critic, legal scholar, and public intellectual. Renowned for his role in developing reader-response theory in literary studies, Fish has written on a wide range of topics including the poetry of John Milton, the distinction between free speech and academic freedom, and the doctrine of liberalism. His most recent book, Law at the Movies, provides an introduction to legal theory through the lens of cinema, exploring the role of the law in such distinguished films as 12 Angry Men, Inherit the Wind, and Judgement at Nuremberg.

Claire Hynes

Award-winning writer and lecturer

Claire Hynes is Associate Professor in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and an author of fiction, creative non-fiction, essays and theatre monologues. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Wasafiri. She has been selected as an international Civitella Ranieri Writing Fellow for 2025-2026.

Martin Puchner

Harvard Professor and philosopher

Martin Puchner is the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature. He is also a prolific author, whose writings range from philosophy and theatre to culture and technology. His most recent works is Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop.

Stanley Fish, Claire Hynes and Martin Puchner ask if the idea of the new is a fantasy? Joanna Kavenna hosts.


Please join us after the debate for the "Meet the Speakers" session, where you will have the opportunity to ask our speakers your questions directly in a live audience Q&A.