Rewiring the real : in conversation with William Gaddis, Richard Powers, Mark Danielewski, and Don DeLillo / Mark C. Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Mark C., 1945- author.

Series:

Religion, culture, and public life.

Religion, Culture, and Public Life

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gaddis, William, 1922-1998. Recognitions.

Gaddis, William.

Powers, Richard, 1957- Plowing the dark.

Powers, Richard.

Danielewski, Mark Z. House of leaves.

Danielewski, Mark Z.

DeLillo, Don. Underworld.

DeLillo, Don.

Technology in literature.

American literature--20th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--21st century--History and criticism.

Technological innovations--Religious aspects.

Technological innovations.

Theology in literature.

Spirituality in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (339 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Digital and electronic technologies that act as extensions of our bodies and minds are changing how we live, think, act, and write. Some welcome these developments as bringing humans closer to unified consciousness and eternal life. Others worry that invasive globalized technologies threaten to destroy the self and the world. Whether feared or desired, these innovations provoke emotions that have long fueled the religious imagination, suggesting the presence of a latent spirituality in an era mistakenly deemed secular and posthuman.William Gaddis, Richard Powers, Mark Danielewski, and Don DeLillo are American authors who explore this phenomenon thoroughly in their work. Engaging the works of each in conversation, Mark C. Taylor discusses their sophisticated representations of new media, communications, information, and virtual technologies and their transformative effects on the self and society. He focuses on Gaddis's The Recognitions, Powers's Plowing the Dark, Danielewski's House of Leaves, and DeLillo's Underworld, following the interplay of technology and religion in their narratives and their imagining of the transition from human to posthuman states. Their challenging ideas and inventive styles reveal the fascinating ways religious interests affect emerging technologies and how, in turn, these technologies guide spiritual aspirations. To read these novels from this perspective is to see them and the world anew.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

neχus

1. Counterfeiting Counterfeit Religion / Gaddis, William

2. Mosaics: Richard Powers, Plowing the Dark / Powers, Richard

3. Figuring Nothing: Mark Danielewski, House of Leaves / Danielewski, Mark

4. "Holy Shit!": Don DeLillo, Underworld

5. Concluding Unscientific Postscript: Two Styles of the Philosophy of Religion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780231531641

0231531648

OCLC:

828303090