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This essay traces the century-long history of contemporary literature as a field of study in English departments. Showing how prior debates about the scholarly status of contemporary literature coincided with both changing disciplinary methodologies and the changing political landscape of the university, the essay argues that prevailing anxieties about the study of the contemporary today are central to explaining the emergence of a new kind of contemporary novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bibliography is presented on topics of nineteenth-century literature which includes the books "Antebellum at Sea: Maritime Fantasies in Nineteenth- Century America," by Jason Berger, "The Rise and Fall of the Femme Fatale in British Literature, 1790-1910," by Heather Braun, and "Are We There Yet?: Virtual Travel and Victorian Realism," by Alison Byerly.