Conceptualising the Global in the Wake of the Postmodern
Literature, Culture, Theory

Identifies a return to figurations of the totality in contemporary literature, theory and culture.

Joel Evans (Author)

9781108497015, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 March 2019

210 pages, 9 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

This book argues that, in the wake of the postmodern, contemporary culture becomes once again concerned with totality, the main focal point of expression for this being concepts of the global. It uncovers predominant ways of conceptualising the global in contemporary literature, film and theory. In so doing, it offers a fresh approach to the study of globalisation and culture, identifying four main categories under which concepts of the global can be placed: the immanent, the transcendent, the contingent and the beyond-measure. Alongside this, it discovers a confrontation between two predominant ways of figuring human relations on a global scale. Conceptualising the Global in the Wake of the Postmodern examines the works of various authors and filmmakers, such as Margaret Atwood, Don DeLillo, Kazuo Ishiguro, Douglas Coupland, David Cronenberg, Charlie Kaufman, and David Lynch, to show how the idea of totality has returned in contemporary culture.

Introduction: 1. Immanence I: Atwood, Danielewski and Sloterdijk
2. Immanence II: Cronenberg, Kaufman, Hardt and Negri
3. Transcendence: DeLillo, Self and Blomkamp
4. Contingency: Cloud Atlas, Meillassoux and Ali Smith
5. Beyond-measure: Ishiguro, Keiller and Lynch
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Educational: literature in languages other than English [YQFL], Educational: English literature [YQE], Literary theory [DSA]