Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past

Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past
- Used Book in Good Condition
When looking at how trauma is represented in literature and the arts, we tend to focus on the weight of the past. In this book, Amir Eshel suggests that this retrospective gaze has trapped us in a search for reason in the madness of the twentieth centuryâ‚¬s catastrophes at the expense of literatureâ‚¬s prospective vision. Considering several key literary works, Eshel argues in Futurity that by grappling with watershed events of modernity, these works display a future-centric engagement with the past that opens up the present to new political, cultural, and ethical possibilitiesâ‚¬"what he calls futurity.
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Bringing together postwar German, Israeli, and Anglo-American literature, Eshel traces a shared trajectory of futurity in world literature. He begins by examining German works of fiction and the debates they spurred over the future character of Germanyâ‚¬s public sphere. Turning to literary works by Jewish-Israeli writers as they revisit Israelâ‚¬s political birth, he shows how these stories inspired a powerful reconsideration of Israelâ‚¬s identity. Eshel then discusses post-1989 literatureâ‚¬"from Ian McEwanâ‚¬s Black Dogs to J. M. Coetzeeâ‚¬s Diary of a Bad Yearâ‚¬"revealing how these books turn to events like World War II and the Iraq War not simply to make sense of the past but to contemplate the political and intellectual horizon that emerged after 1989. Bringing to light how reflections on the past create tools for the future, Futurity reminds us of the numerous possibilities literature holds for grappling with the challenges of both today and tomorrow.
Country USA
Brand University of Chicago Press
Manufacturer University of Chicago Press
Binding Hardcover
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780226924953
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University of Chicago Press
Manufacturer	University of Chicago Press
Binding	Hardcover
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780226924953
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past

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