The Ethical Work of Literature in a Post-Humanist world : Don DeLillo, Arendt and Badiou / Benice Spark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spark, Benice, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

DeLillo, Don--Criticism and interpretation.

DeLillo, Don.

Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975--Criticism and interpretation.

Arendt, Hannah.

Badiou, Alain--Criticism and interpretation.

Badiou, Alain.

Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975.

Literature and society.

Literature--Philosophy.

Literature.

Culture in literature.

Societies in literature.

Humanism in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

viii, 168 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.

Summary:

This book examines the contention that, in an era where the relevance of the literary novel is compromised, the novel remains an important means of exploring and interrogating societies and culture. It answers the question of what we lose with the loss of the novel as an important public space for discourse. It does so through readings of a selection of Don DeLillo's later novels, together with the political philosophies of Hannah Arendt and Alain Badiou in their engagement with contemporary history.DeLillo explores in his fiction the profound cultural and socio-political changes and historical events which affect people. His literary interest is the status of the individual in changing times. On a personal level, his concern is the writer in an epoch where the novel is challenged by crises of diminished relevance in a techno-media culture and the emergence of radical forms of censorship that target tliterature and its producers. This book will appeal to students of DeLillo's novels, researchers in the disciplines of literature, philosophy, and contemporary history, and students of Badiou and Arendt. Arendt's political theories are currently undergoing a renaissance of interest, given current global politics.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Pluralism vs. Universalism: Inclusion and Exclusion p. 15

1.1 The Philosophical and Political Divide

1.2 Truth and Ethics of the New in a New Era

1.3 An Ontology of the Non-Presented

1.4 The Universal Project and "the thought of all"

1.5 Incomplete Totalities

1.6 "Passion for the Real" to Minimal Difference

1.7 In Defence of the Autonomous Individual

1.8 A Novel Form of Arendt's Political Activist

Chapter 2 A Matter of Faith or Faith Matters p. 40

2.1 The Modern Model of a Radical Universalist

2.2 DeLillo's Literary Transcendence

2.3 Faith as a Collective Experience

Chapter 3 Mao II: The Novel in an Epoch of Radical Novelty p. 59

3.1 The Disaffected American Male

3.2 Crowded Futures

3.3 The Novel in the Media Age

3.4 Being Out of Time

3.5 Demise or Affirmation of the Writer

Chapter 4 The Names: Poking a Hole in Knowledge p. 81

4.1 Systems of Dominance and Resistance

4.2 Secrets in the Global Landscape

4.3 Transcendence, Violence and an of Ontology Language

4.4 Correspondence and Affirmation in DeLillo's Language Games

4.5 Opting Out is Not an Option

Chapter 5 Cosmopolis: A Day in the Life of Eric Packer p. 103

5.1 A Day's Journey into Night

5.2 Embodiment in the Technological Age

5.3 The End of the Day

5.4 The New Subject of History

Chapter 6 Palling Man: When Terrorism Became the Main Plot p. 130

6.2 Fraternity, Fidelity and Asceticism

6.3 Loss of Memory, Memory of Loss

6.4 Falling People.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Spark, Benice. Ethical Work of Literature in a Post-Humanist world.

ISBN:

9781527515864

1527515869

OCLC:

1050965557

Publisher Number:

99982785968