The watchman in pieces : surveillance, literature, and liberal personhood / David Rosen and Aaron Santesso.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosen, David, 1971-

Contributor:

Santesso, Aaron, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self in literature.

Privacy in literature.

Citizenship in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (370 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Spanning nearly 500 years of cultural and social history, this book examines the ways that literature and surveillance have developed together, as kindred modern practices. As ideas about personhood-what constitutes a self-have changed over time, so too have ideas about how to represent, shape, or invade the self. The authors show that, since the Renaissance, changes in observation strategies have driven innovations in literature; literature, in turn, has provided a laboratory and forum for the way we think about surveillance and privacy. Ultimately, they contend that the habits of mind cultivated by literature make rational and self-aware participation in contemporary surveillance environments possible. In a society increasingly dominated by interlocking surveillance systems, these habits of mind are consequently necessary for fully realized liberal citizenship.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Retreat of Allegory

2. The Liberal Panopticon

3. Inviolate Personality

4. The Return of Allegory

5. Towards a Theory of Liberal Reading

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-300-15664-2

OCLC:

847526869