Ends of Enlightenment explores three realms of eighteenth-century European innovation that remain active in the twenty-first century: the realist novel, philosophical thought, and the physical sciences, especially human anatomy. The European Enlightenment was a state of being, a…
"While rumors of the imminent death of the novel are everywhere, this book shows how some of our most significant twenty-first century writers mobilize the idea of the end of the novel to reimagine the ethics and politics of literature. Writers like J.M. Coetzee, Teju Cole, and …
Argues that the gloomy mood associated with degeneration theory, biodeterminism, Freudian psychoanalysis, and apocalypticism in Europe had appeared in works by Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy well before the end of the 19th century.
"Contemporary culture is full of anxiety. But what happens when art, which usually purports to soothe us, actually disturbs us? What affective distortions do aesthetic experiences afford us when solace isn't the ultimate ambition? What happens when art fails, or when we fail to …
Constructing Adolescence in Fantastic Realism examines those fundamental themes which inform our understanding of "the teenager"--Themes that emerge in both literary and cultural contexts. Models of adolescence do not arise solely from discourses of psychology, sociology, and ed…
"Constructing Adolescence in Fantastic Realism examines those fundamental themes which inform our understanding of "the teenager" - themes that emerge in both literary and cultural contexts. Models of adolescence do not arise solely from discourses of psychology, sociology, and …
"Affecting Fictions offers a new understanding of American literary realism that draws on neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Thrailkill positions herself against the emotionless interpretations of the New Critics. Taking as her point of departure realist works of medicine, p…
