While globalization is often associated with economic and social progress, it has also brought ne... more While globalization is often associated with economic and social progress, it has also brought new forms of terrorism, permanent states of emergency, demographic displacement, climate change, and other "natural" disasters. Given these contemporary concerns, one might also view the current time as an age of traumatism. Yet what—or how—does the traumatic event mean in an age of global catastrophe? This volume explores trauma theory in an age of globalization by means of the practice of comparative literature. The essays and interviews in this volume ask how literary studies and the literary anticipate, imagine, or theorize the current global climate, especially in an age when the links between violence, amorphous traumatic events, and economic concerns are felt increasingly in everyday experience. Trauma and Literature in an Age of Globalization turns a literary perspective upon the most urgent issues of globalization—problems of borders, language, inequality, and institutionalized violence—and considers from a variety of perspectives how such events impact our lived experience and its representation in language and literature.
Traditionally, political theory has sought to banish the "paranoid style" from the "proper" domai... more Traditionally, political theory has sought to banish the "paranoid style" from the "proper" domain of politics. But if conspiracy theory lies outside the sphere of legitimate politics, why do these narratives continue to haunt political life? Counterfeit Politics accounts for the seemingly ineradicable nature of conspiracy theory by arguing that all political statements ultimately take the form of conspiracy theory.
Trauma and Literature in an Age of Globalization, 2021
Trauma theory has necessarily changed the way we think about comparison. Rather than assume that... more Trauma theory has necessarily changed the way we think about comparison. Rather than assume that comparison can continue to take place as usual within a context of global trauma, “The Cut that Links” argues that the experience of trauma transforms comparison into a mode of listening that is attentive to traumas from the future (that which is not yet apparent) while also highlighting a comparatist who is constitutively not fully in control of the objects under comparison.
Ricardo Piglia's El camino de Ida (2013) is a meditation on the global shift from a political sov... more Ricardo Piglia's El camino de Ida (2013) is a meditation on the global shift from a political sovereignty that depends on visibility and height to a mode of political action that is as violent as it is "invisible." In other words, we witness a shift from the Tower of Babel to what Franz Kafka called "the pit of Babel," a digging downwards that is also a mode of construction. While the age of literary modernity is very familiar with the figure of the isolated writer, political theory would have us believe that this drive toward a "pit of Babel" precludes political action. Nevertheless, Piglia's emphasis on the role of literature-and even "comparative literature"-in the story of the Unabomber (or "the Recycler" in the novel) allows Piglia to think through a notion of politics in the age of the "loner," a politics that emerges from a small room.
While comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged ... more While comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged with the responsibility to see into the future. But why has comparative literature been given the task of the fortune-teller? To answer this question, I compare the works of Philip K. Dick and Ricardo Piglia to address a method of accessing the future by means of the random reading of books, also known as “bibliomancy” (divination by books). My argument opens up a disciplinary question (the practice of comparative literature, the mechanism of comparison) by means of a theoretical inquiry into the relation between reading and chance. I argue that Piglia’s incorporation of Dick’s theme of bibliomancy introduces us to “comparomancy,” which describes the way the chance crossing of texts bears witness to the forces at work in the present and opens up the present to strikingly new paths.
This essay argues that comparative literature should not be theorized in terms of how comparison ... more This essay argues that comparative literature should not be theorized in terms of how comparison appears, but rather how it does not fully appear. By focusing on the (in)comparability of catastrophic events, Pynchon’s work suggests that comparison is “avisual,” since it takes place as the splitting apart of the day
The volume _Thinking Allegory Otherwise_, edited by Brenda Machosky, demonstrates that other disc... more The volume _Thinking Allegory Otherwise_, edited by Brenda Machosky, demonstrates that other disciplines besides literary studies have a lot to learn from allegory’s
mode of "speaking otherwise."
So I'm referring to that kind of question: a discourse that should not be understood as external ... more So I'm referring to that kind of question: a discourse that should not be understood as external to the state. It is the state itself that speaks, and writers and novelists dialogue and argue with this kind of fictional politics.
While globalization is often associated with economic and social progress, it has also brought ne... more While globalization is often associated with economic and social progress, it has also brought new forms of terrorism, permanent states of emergency, demographic displacement, climate change, and other "natural" disasters. Given these contemporary concerns, one might also view the current time as an age of traumatism. Yet what—or how—does the traumatic event mean in an age of global catastrophe? This volume explores trauma theory in an age of globalization by means of the practice of comparative literature. The essays and interviews in this volume ask how literary studies and the literary anticipate, imagine, or theorize the current global climate, especially in an age when the links between violence, amorphous traumatic events, and economic concerns are felt increasingly in everyday experience. Trauma and Literature in an Age of Globalization turns a literary perspective upon the most urgent issues of globalization—problems of borders, language, inequality, and institutionalized violence—and considers from a variety of perspectives how such events impact our lived experience and its representation in language and literature.
Traditionally, political theory has sought to banish the "paranoid style" from the "proper" domai... more Traditionally, political theory has sought to banish the "paranoid style" from the "proper" domain of politics. But if conspiracy theory lies outside the sphere of legitimate politics, why do these narratives continue to haunt political life? Counterfeit Politics accounts for the seemingly ineradicable nature of conspiracy theory by arguing that all political statements ultimately take the form of conspiracy theory.
Trauma and Literature in an Age of Globalization, 2021
Trauma theory has necessarily changed the way we think about comparison. Rather than assume that... more Trauma theory has necessarily changed the way we think about comparison. Rather than assume that comparison can continue to take place as usual within a context of global trauma, “The Cut that Links” argues that the experience of trauma transforms comparison into a mode of listening that is attentive to traumas from the future (that which is not yet apparent) while also highlighting a comparatist who is constitutively not fully in control of the objects under comparison.
Ricardo Piglia's El camino de Ida (2013) is a meditation on the global shift from a political sov... more Ricardo Piglia's El camino de Ida (2013) is a meditation on the global shift from a political sovereignty that depends on visibility and height to a mode of political action that is as violent as it is "invisible." In other words, we witness a shift from the Tower of Babel to what Franz Kafka called "the pit of Babel," a digging downwards that is also a mode of construction. While the age of literary modernity is very familiar with the figure of the isolated writer, political theory would have us believe that this drive toward a "pit of Babel" precludes political action. Nevertheless, Piglia's emphasis on the role of literature-and even "comparative literature"-in the story of the Unabomber (or "the Recycler" in the novel) allows Piglia to think through a notion of politics in the age of the "loner," a politics that emerges from a small room.
While comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged ... more While comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged with the responsibility to see into the future. But why has comparative literature been given the task of the fortune-teller? To answer this question, I compare the works of Philip K. Dick and Ricardo Piglia to address a method of accessing the future by means of the random reading of books, also known as “bibliomancy” (divination by books). My argument opens up a disciplinary question (the practice of comparative literature, the mechanism of comparison) by means of a theoretical inquiry into the relation between reading and chance. I argue that Piglia’s incorporation of Dick’s theme of bibliomancy introduces us to “comparomancy,” which describes the way the chance crossing of texts bears witness to the forces at work in the present and opens up the present to strikingly new paths.
This essay argues that comparative literature should not be theorized in terms of how comparison ... more This essay argues that comparative literature should not be theorized in terms of how comparison appears, but rather how it does not fully appear. By focusing on the (in)comparability of catastrophic events, Pynchon’s work suggests that comparison is “avisual,” since it takes place as the splitting apart of the day
The volume _Thinking Allegory Otherwise_, edited by Brenda Machosky, demonstrates that other disc... more The volume _Thinking Allegory Otherwise_, edited by Brenda Machosky, demonstrates that other disciplines besides literary studies have a lot to learn from allegory’s
mode of "speaking otherwise."
So I'm referring to that kind of question: a discourse that should not be understood as external ... more So I'm referring to that kind of question: a discourse that should not be understood as external to the state. It is the state itself that speaks, and writers and novelists dialogue and argue with this kind of fictional politics.
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mode of "speaking otherwise."
mode of "speaking otherwise."