Del 0 - New Americanists

Latent Destinies

Cultural Paranoia and Contemporary U.S. Narrative

Inbunden, Engelska, 2000

AvPatrick O'Donnell

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Latent Destinies examines the formation of postmodern sensibilities and their relationship to varieties of paranoia that have been seen as widespread in this century. Despite the fact that the Cold War has ended and the threat of nuclear annihilation has been dramatically lessened by most estimates, the paranoia that has characterized the period has not gone away. Indeed, it is as if-as O’Donnell suggests-this paranoia has been internalized, scattered, and reiterated at a multitude of sites: Oklahoma City, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Bosnia, the White House, the United Nations, and numerous other places.O’Donnell argues that paranoia on the broadly cultural level is essentially a narrative process in which history and postmodern identity are negotiated simultaneously. The result is an erasure of historical temporality-the past and future become the all-consuming, self-aware present. To explain and exemplify this, O’Donnell looks at such books and films as Libra, JFK, The Crying of Lot 49, The Truman Show, Reservoir Dogs, Empire of the Senseless, Oswald’s Tale, The Executioner’s Song, Underworld, The Killer Inside Me, and Groundhog Day. Organized around the topics of nationalism, gender, criminality, and construction of history, Latent Destinies establishes cultural paranoia as consonant with our contradictory need for multiplicity and certainty, for openness and secrecy, and for mobility and historical stability.Demonstrating how imaginative works of novels and films can be used to understand the postmodern historical condition, this book will interest students and scholars of American literature and cultural studies, postmodern theory, and film studies.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2000-10-27
Mått158 x 244 x 23 mm
Vikt649 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieNew Americanists
Antal sidor208
FörlagDuke University Press
ISBN9780822325581

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Preface Entry: The Time of Paranoia 1. Postmodernity and the Symptom of ParanoiaThe Sympton of Paranoia Paranoia and History: Latent Destiny Postmodern Temporalities 2. Headshots: The Theater of ParanoiaBranch-Work: Libra Stone’s Oedipus: JFK Performing Character: Oswald’s Tale 3. Engendering ParanoiaThe Point of the Cry: The Crying of Lot 49 The Umbra of Difference: The Shadow Knows Exposing Paranoia: Empire of the Senseless 4. Criminality and ParanoiaThe Voice of Paranoia: The Executioner’s Song The Cultural Logic of Paranoia: The Killer Inside Me Men in Black: Reservoir Dogs Exit: Under History: Underworld Notes Bibliography

“Latent Destinies provides a smartly informed paradigm for understanding postmodern U.S. narratives, both aesthetic and theoretical. Examining a representative sample of these, O’Donnell finds that they indulge a cultural paranoia that wags the tail of their late-capitalist bÊte noire.”-Louis A. Renza, Dartmouth College “Latent Destinies provides a careful, lucid, insightful analysis of a number of works of contemporary American authors and filmmakers, and situates their work within a complex theoretical matrix of social connections that enhance our understanding not only of the works under discussion but also of the conditions of contemporary American culture in which those works circulate.”-Alan Nadel, author of Containment Culture: American Narratives, Postmodernism and the Atomic Age