Staff profile

I joined the Department in 2018, having previously studied at the Universities of Zagreb (BA) and Warwick (PhD), and held the Thole Research Fellowship at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. I have held visiting fellowships and grants at the Bodleian Library, Durham University, Huntington Library, and the Warburg Institute, and given invited talks at Birmingham, Budapest, Cambridge, Stanford, NYU, the Warburg Institute, Warwick, York, and Zagreb.

Research

I work mainly on English literary and intellectual history, c.1500-1700, with wider interests in the long history of poetics and hermeneutics, and the literary and cultural history of outer space and the cosmological imagination. Topics of particular interest include:

Allegory. My doctoral work was on on allegory in English literature and literary theory, c.1500-1700, and I have published a number of articles and chapters on the subject; edited Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge, 2022); organized Allegory Studies? (Warwick, 2013), Rethinking Allegory (Warburg Institute, 2015); and am now completing a monograph consolidating my research in this field, Allegory: Concealing and Revealing from Antiquity to Modernity.

History of Literary Criticism. Another long-term project is a new account of English literary criticism of the earlier seventeenth century. This is a 'lost age' in the history of the subject, typically presented as a dormant interlude between a waning Renaissance and a dawning Restoration, rather than a productive epoch in its own right. Based on ongoing archival research, the project recovers this lost age and reassesses its contribution to literary and intellectual history. This work also contributes to The Literary Criticism of the English Renaissance, a multi-volume edition of primary sources I am co-editing for OUP with Gavin Alexander, Catherine Bates, Sarah Knight, and Micha Lazarus. 

I am also co-founder of Poetics before Modernity (2016-), a collaborative project exploring broader perspectives in the history of early literary thought, which I convene with Micha Lazarus and an international team of colleagues. The project organizes events in the field and publishes Sources in Early Poetics (Brill, 2021-). Other publications emerging from the project include two collections co-edited with Dr Lazarus: 'Artes poeticae': Formations and Transformations, 1500-1650 (special issue of Classical Receptions Journal, 2021), and Poetics before Modernity: Literary Theory in the West from Antiquity to 1700 (OUP, under contract).

Milton. Much of my interest in the work of John Milton research revolves around the idea of Paradise Lost as a work of seventeenth-century science fiction, an interest which also informs the special topic module 'Paradise Lost' as Science Fiction (ENGL3731). My article 'The Satanic "or": Milton and Protestant Anti-Allegorism' was awarded the Review of English Studies Essay Prize (2015), and was included in the journal's virtual issue celebrating the 350th anniversary of the first publication of Paradise Lost (1667).

When did space turn dark? A new project, which I worked on as a Frances A. Yates Long-Term Fellow at the Warburg Institute (2022-23), explores the shift in the Western cosmological imagination from a bright to a dark universe. Relating to this work, I co-organized the conference Space in Time (Warburg Institute, 2023), and co-editing a collection emerging from the event with Veronica della Dora, Stamatina Mastorakou, and John Tresch.

I have also published on other topics: Old English poetry; references to religious doctrine and controversy in Shakespeare's work; modern authors drawing on 'medieval' sources and traditions (Borges, Tolkien).

Teaching

I convene the following modules: What Is Literature? Literary Thought from Antiquity to Modernity (L2), 'Paradise Lost' as Science Fiction (L3), and Early Modern Science Fiction (MA). I also lecture across the pre-1900 syllabus (L1-3), tutor on Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature (L2), and supervise BA, MA and PhD dissertations in the medieval and early modern periods.

PhD Supervision

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students interested in any aspect of English literary and intellectual history, c.1500-1700, especially those indicated above.

• 2022: [Invited Talk] 'When Did Space Turn Dark?', Work in Progress Seminar, Warburg Institute, University of London:
• 2022: [Research Fellowship] Frances A. Yates Long-Term Fellowship, Warburg Institute, University of London:
• 2022: [Research Grant] Seedcorn Fund Award, Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University:
• 2022: [Prize] Discretionary Award, Durham University:
• 2022: [Invited Talk] 'Reading Milton's Universe', Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, University of York:
• 2021: [Invited Talk] 'When Did Space Turn Dark?, NYU Space Talks, New York University:
• 2021: [Editorial Work] General Editor, 'Sources in Early Poetics' (Brill, 2021-):
• 2021: [Event Organization] 'Poetics among the Disciplines', panel series at Scientiae: Panel at Scientiae, University of Amsterdam, 9-12 June 2021. Co-organizer and co-chair for the Poetics before Modernity project with Dr Bryan Brazeau and Dr Micha Lazarus.
• 2020: [Invited Talk] 'From Everyman to Hamlet: A Distant Reading', Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies Seminar, University of Birmingham:
• 2018: [Invited Talk] 'Dead Water in English Criticism: Tradition and Innovation from Bacon to Dryden', STVDIO, Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick:
• 2018: [Research Fellowship] Mayers Fellowship, Huntington Library:
• 2018: [Invited Talk] 'Inventing Renaissance Poetics: Modernity, Allegory, and the History of Literary Theory', Workshop in Poetics, Stanford University:
• 2017: [Research Fellowship] Sassoon Visiting Fellowship, Centre for the Study of the Book, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford:
• 2017: [Event Organization] 'Poetics before Modernity Conference 2017', CRASSH, University of Cambridge: International conference aimed at early career researchers in the field, co-organized with Dr Micha Lazarus, 14-15 December 2017.
• 2016: [Invited Talk] 'Allegorical Poetics in England after 1600: Fishing in the Dead Water', Renaissance Graduate Seminar, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge:
• 2016: [Project Organization] Poetics before Modernity: Collaborative multi-platform project on the long history of premodern literary thought in the West and its neighbouring traditions, from Greco-Roman antiquity to the Enlightenment (2016-present). Co-founded with Dr Micha Lazarus, and co-convened with Dr Lazarus and an international team of colleagues across the premodern period. More information at www.poeticsbeforemodernity.net.
• 2016: [Event Organization] 'Poetics before Modernity', University of Cambridge: International seminar series. Inaugural event of the Poetics before Modernity project, meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the academic year 2016-17. Co-organized with Dr Micha Lazarus.
• 2016: [Invited Talk] 'Hamlet in 1603', University of Zagreb: Series of three public lectures - 'Hamlet in Heaven', 'Hamlet in Purgatory', and 'Hamlet in Hell' - at the invitation of the Shakespeare Lives project, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.
• 2015: [Research Fellowship] Thole Research Fellowship, Trinity Hall, Cambridge (2015-18):
• 2015: [Prize] The Review of English Studies Essay Prize: Awarded for the article 'The Satanic "or": Milton and Protestant Anti-Allegorism', published in The Review of English Studies, n.s., 66 (2015): 403-22.
• 2015: [Event Organization] 'Rethinking Allegory', Warburg Institute: International conference, 30 October 2015. Co-organized with Prof. Karen Lang and Prof. Peter Mack.
• 2013: [Event Organization] 'Allegory Studies?', University of Warwick: International conference, 7 November 2013.

Book review

• Brljak, V. (2020). Andrew Escobedo, Volition's Face: Personification and the Will in Renaissance Literature (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017). Modern Philology: Critical and Historical Studies in Literature, Medieval through Contemporary, 117(3), E173-E180. https://doi.org/10.1086/707144
• Brljak, V. (2019). Donovan Sherman, Second Death: Theatricalities of the Soul in Shakespeare's Drama (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016). Shakespeare Quarterly, 70(1), 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1093/sq/quz004

Chapter in book

• Brljak, V. (in press). Allegory, 'Allegory', and _Allegory_: Ends and Beginnings, c.1500-1700'. In D. Parry (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Allegory. Oxford University Press
• Brljak, V. (2022). Introduction: Allegory Past and Present. In V. Brljak (Ed.), Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives (1-40). Routledge
• Brljak, V. (2020). Inventing a Renaissance: Modernity, Allegory, and the History of Literary Theory. In B. Brazeau (Ed.), The reception of Aristotle's Poetics in the Italian Renaissance and beyond : new directions in criticism (60-93). Bloomsbury
• Brljak, V. (2012). Allegorical Readings of Paradise Lost. In G. Ittzes, & M. Peti (Eds.), Milton through the Centuries. Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary; L'Harmattan

Edited book

• Brljak, V., & Lazarus, M. (Eds.). Poetics before Modernity: Literary Theory in the West from Antiquity to 1700. Oxford University Press
• Brljak, V. (Ed.). (2022). Allegory Studies: Contemporary Perspectives. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003183341

Journal Article

• Brljak, V. (in press). Using and Abusing Poetry and Music: Gosson's School, Sidney's Defence, and Gwinne's Oration. Sidney Journal,
• Brljak, V. The Lutheran 'Faustus' in Foxe's Acts and Monuments
• Brljak, V. (2021). Borges against the Vikings: Early Writings on Old Germanic Literature and History, 1932-46. Old English newsletter, 47(1),
• Brljak, V., & Lazarus, M. (2021). Introduction: Poetics as Classical Reception. Classical Receptions Journal, 13(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/claa028
• Brljak, V. (2018). Hamlet and the Soul-Sleepers. Reformation & Renaissance Review, 20(3), 187-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/14622459.2018.1498056
• Brljak, V. (2017). The Age of Allegory. Studies in philology, 114(4), 697-719. https://doi.org/10.1353/sip.2017.0025
• Brljak, V. (2017). Notes on the Religious Element in Hamlet. Notes & Queries, 64(2), 274-278. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjx039
• Brljak, V. (2015). The Satanic 'or': Milton and Protestant Anti-Allegorism. The Review of English Studies, 66(275), 403-422. https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgv011
• Brljak, V. (2015). Early Comments on Milton's Anti-Trinitarianism. Milton Quarterly, 49(1), 44-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/milt.12117
• Brljak, V. (2011). Hamlet and Lameth. Notes & Queries, 58(2),
• Brljak, V. (2011). Borges and the North. Studies in medievalism, 20, 99-128
• Brljak, V. (2011). Unediting Deor. Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 112(3), 297-321
• Brljak, V. (2010). An Allusion to Purgatory in Hamlet. Notes & Queries, 57(3),

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Brljak, V. (2018). Personification and Allegory: Selves and Signs. [[Media unknown]]

Presentation

• Brljak, V. (2022, December). Reading Milton's Universe. Paper presented at Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, University of York
• Brljak, V. (2020, December). Milton and the Space Age: Premodern Universes and Modern Readers. Paper presented at British Milton Seminar, University of Birmingham
• Brljak, V. (2020, December). From Everyman to Hamlet: A Distant Reading. Paper presented at Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies Seminar., University of Birmingham
• Brljak, V. (2013, December). The Age of Allegory: A Medievalist Myth and Its Legacy. Paper presented at The Middle Ages in the Modern World, University of St Andrews
• Brljak, V. (2022, December). When Did Space Turn Dark?. Paper presented at Work in Progress Seminar, The Warburg Institute
• Brljak, V. (2021, December). When Did Space Turn Dark?. Paper presented at NYU Space Talks, New York University
• Brljak, V. (2019, December). Milton and the Space Age: Premodern Universes and Modern Readers. Paper presented at 12th International Milton Symposium, Strasbourg
• Brljak, V. (2018, December). Inventing Renaissance Poetics: Modernity, Allegory, and the History of Literary Theory. Paper presented at Workshop in Poetics, Stanford University
• Brljak, V. (2018, December). Roundtable participant, 'What Now for Allegory Studies?'. Paper presented at 64th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, New Orleans
• Brljak, V. (2018, December). Classical Myth in English Poetics after 1600. Paper presented at 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Renaissance Studies, University of Sheffield
• Brljak, V. (2018, December). Dead Water in English Criticism: Tradition and Innovation from Bacon to Dryden. Paper presented at STVDIO, Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, University of Warwick
• Brljak, V. (2017, December). The Critical Fantasies of Philip Kinder. Paper presented at 63rd Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, Chicago
• Brljak, V. (2016, December). Allegorical Poetics in England after 1600: Fishing in the Dead Water. Paper presented at Renaissance Graduate Seminar, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
• Brljak, V. (2016, December). (Neo)allegory and (Anti)modernity. Paper presented at Redefining Allegory, Queen Mary University of London
• Brljak, V. (2016, December). Hamlet in 1603 (series of three public lectures: 'Hamlet in Heaven', 'Hamlet in Purgatory', 'Hamlet in Hell'). Paper presented at Shakespeare Lives, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
• Brljak, V. (2015, December). '[S]ome shadowe of satisfaction': Bacon's Poetics Revisited. Paper presented at 61st Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, Humboldt University, Berlin
• Brljak, V. (2014, December). Satan's Allegories and Milton's Epics. Paper presented at 60th Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, New York
• Brljak, V. (2014, December). '[T]he causes and obiects of delectation': An Unpublished Essay on Poetic Theory by Kenelm Digby. Paper presented at 6th Biennial Conference of the Society for Renaissance Studies, University of Southampton
• Brljak, V. (2013, December). Allegory and Modernity in English Poetics, c.1570-1630: Locations and Dislocations. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association, University of Toronto
• Brljak, V. (2012, December). The Mouth of Hell: Hamlet, 1.5.2-91. Paper presented at Arts Faculty Seminar, University of Warwick