Out of Sync & Out of Work
History and the Obsolescence of Labor in Contemporary Culture
Joel Burges (Author)
9780813597119
Paperback / softback, published 27 June 2018
214 pages, 5 color, 25 b-w
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.313 kg
"A compelling account of an economic system that has proven itself more and more willing to allow workers to 'fall into history' by rendering their labor obsolete, the book masterfully illuminates the present and its prehistory. More than this, however, it is a persuasive and vivid manifesto for the work culture itself does, one that revivifies our sense that the labor of the cultural critic, at least, is more urgent than ever."
— Annie J. McClanahan, author of Dead Pledges: Debt, Crisis, and 21st Century Culture
— Chronicle of Higher Education
"Out of Sync Out of Work is original, engrossing, remarkably timely, and consistently characterized by careful scholarship and convincing readings. It is a masterful work that demonstrates the power of contemporary cultural forms to reactivate readers' sense of history as a political medium."
— Heather Hicks, author of The Culture of Soft Work: Labor, Gender, and Race in Postmodern American Narrative
Out of Sync & Out of Work explores the representation of obsolescence, particularly of labor, in film and literature during a historical moment in which automation has intensified in capitalist economies. Joel Burges analyzes texts such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wreck-It Ralph, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Iron Council, and examines their "means" of production. Those means include a range of subjects and narrative techniques, including the "residual means" of including classic film stills in a text, the "obstinate means" of depicting machine breaking, the "dated means" of employing the largely defunct technique of stop-motion animation, and the "obsolete" means of celebrating a labor strike. In every case, the novels and films that Burges scrutinizes call on these means to activate the reader's/viewer's awareness of historical time. Out of Sync & Out of Work advances its readers' grasp of the complexities of historical time in contemporary culture, moving the study of temporality forward in film and media studies, literary studies, critical theory, and cultural critique.
Introduction: Falling into History
1
Culture by Outmoded Means
2
Reading by Residual Means
3
Narrative by Obstinate Means
4
Cinema by Dated Means
5
Politics by Obsolete Means
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
