States of exception in the contemporary novel Martel, Eugenides, Coetzee, Sebald Arne De Boever.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Boever, Arne, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--21st century--History and criticism.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (177 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York Continuum 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, the political situation in both the United States and abroad has often been described as a "state of exception": an emergency situation in which the normal rule of law is suspended. In such a situation, the need for good decisions is felt ever more strongly. This book investigates the aesthetics, ethics, and politics of various decisions represented in novels published around 9/11: Martel's Life of Pi, Eugenides' Middlesex, Coetzee's Disgrace, and Sebald's Austerlitz. De Boever's readings of the novels revolve around what he calls the 'aesthetic decision.' Which aesthetics do the characters and narrators in the novels adopt in a situation of crisis? How do these aesthetic decisions relate to the ethical and political decisions represented in the novels? What can they reveal about real-life ethical and political decisions? This book uncovers the politics of allegory, autobiography, focalization, and montage in today's planetary state of exception.

Contents:

Decision time

States of exception in Yann Martel's Life of Pi

Autobiography and human rights in Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex

Literary economies in J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace

Architectures of exception in W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz

From exception to care

DedicationAcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: Decision TimeA. September 11 and the Aesthetic DecisionB. The ChaptersC. Schmitt, Hobbes, Benjamin, Burnham Chapter One: States of Exception in Yann Martel's Life of PiA. IntroductionB. Political State of ExceptionC. Psychic State of ExceptionD. Theological State of ExceptionE. The Politics of AllegoryChapter Two: Autobiography and Human Rights in Jeffrey Eugenides' MiddlesexA. A Failure of ReadingB. Reading Human RightsC. The Political Life of SexD. Sex in TheoryE

Autobiography and MessianismChapter Three: Literary Economies in J.M. Coetzee's DisgraceA. Disgrace, Once MoreB. The Circular Economy of ViolenceC. Reading IncestD. Lucy's CountE. Lucy as "the part of those who have no part"F. From Animals to Aesthetic EconomyChapter Four: Architectures of Exception in W.G. Sebald's AusterlitzA. Architecture, Trauma, and the CampsB. Reading FortificationsC. The Cabinet of WonderD. Architectures of the UncannyE. Moving TestimonyF. The Novel in Motion; or: The Politics of Austerlitz's AestheticConclusion: From Exception to Care A. Crisis and PlayB. Biopolitics, the Novel, and CareBibliographic ReferencesIndex

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN:

9786613608444

9781441181732

1441181733

9781472542786

1472542789

9781280578687

1280578688

9781441102485

1441102485

OCLC:

787843522