States of Exception in the Contemporary Novel

Arne De Boever (Ph.D. Columbia University) is Assistant Professor of American Studies in the School of Critical Studies, California Institute of the Arts, USA. He has published journal articles and book chapters on literature, film, and critical theory and is one of the editors of Parrhesia: A Journal of Critical Philosophy.

• Dedication; Acknowledgements; List of Illustrations; Introduction: Decision Time; A. September 11 and the Aesthetic Decision; B. The Chapters; C. Schmitt, Hobbes, Benjamin, Burnham; Chapter One: States of Exception in Yann Martel's Life of Pi; A. Introduction; B. Political State of Exception; C. Psychic State of Exception; D. Theological State of Exception; E. The Politics of Allegory; Chapter Two: Autobiography and Human Rights in Jeffrey; Eugenides' Middlesex; A. A Failure of Reading; B. Reading Human Rights; C. The Political Life of Sex; D. Sex in Theory; E/ Autobiography and Messianism; Chapter Three: Literary Economies in J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace; A. Disgrace, Once More; B. The Circular Economy of Violence; C. Reading Incest; D. Lucy's Count; E. Lucy as "the part of those who have no part"; F. From Animals to Aesthetic Economy; Chapter Four: Architectures of Exception in W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz; A. Architecture, Trauma, and the Camps; B. Reading Fortifications; C. The Cabinet of Wonder; D. Architectures of the Uncanny; E. Moving Testimony; F. The Novel in Motion; or: The Politics of Austerlitz's Aesthetic; Conclusion: From Exception to Care; A. Crisis and Play; B. Biopolitics, the Novel, and Care; Bibliographic References; Index.

"Arne De Boever offers a strikingly consistent and nuanced analysis of four important contemporary novels. His interdisciplinary theoretical approach, which combines present-day political theory with in-depth literary criticism, generates innovative insights. This highly readable book provides convincing and often fascinating interpretations that will be of value to students and scholars of literature as well as critical/political theory." -- Hilde Staels, Associate Professor of English Literature / Literary Theory, University of Leuven, Belgium