Hyperobject Reading, Scale Variance, and American Fiction in the Anthropocene

2023
ISBN: 978-3-031-25641-7
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Buch, Englisch, 180 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 261 g

This book proposes a model of reading called hyperobject reading that bridges the Anthropocene scale variance between humans and humanity by focusing on the large-scale problems and phenomena themselves. Hyperobject reading draws on narratology and reader-response theory, as well as newer developments such as the postcritical turn and object-oriented ontology. The theoretical introduction sets out the building blocks of hyperobject reading. Chapter 2 intervenes in critical disability studies and debates about the ecosomatic paradigm; Chapter 3 intervenes in debates about technological evolution, analogue vs. digital subjectivity, and affect theory; and Chapter 4 intervenes in debates about autofiction, contemporary metafiction, and the position and role of the narrator in first-person narratives where the narrator and protagonist can be distinguished. The analytical conclusion sketches the conceptual anatomy of the hyperobject and three possible responses. No part of the Earth today is free from human influence, but literary success suggests effective real-world strategies.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sheu, Chingshun J.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur Amerikanische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturtheorie: Poetik und Literaturästhetik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1. Introduction: Hyperobject Reading.- Chapter 2. A Dialectical Nexus of Objects:
Disability as Hyperobject in Joshua Ferris’s The Unnamed.- Chapter 3. Living in an Object-Oriented Universe: The Digital as Hyperobject in Tao Lin’s Taipei.- Chapter 4. Fighting One Hyperobject with Another: Narrative as Hyperobject in Ben Lerner’s 10:04.- Chapter 5. Conclusion: Anthropocene Lessons from a Distant Fictional Hyperobject .

Über Autor(innen)

Chingshun J. Sheu is Assistant Professor of Applied English at Ming Chuan University. His research focuses on contemporary American fiction, literary theory, narratology, and Alain Badiou. Having published essays on William Gaddis, Orson Scott Card, and Taiwanese author Chang Hsiu-ya, he is also the premier English-language film critic in Taiwan.