Latent Destinies Cultural Paranoia and Contemporary U.S. Narrative
Latent Destinies: Cultural Paranoia and Contemporary U.S. Narrative

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,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: O'Donnell, Patrick (Author)
Other Authors: Pease, Donald E. 1945- (Editor)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Durham Duke University Press [2000]
Series:New Americanists
Subjects:
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General
American fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
Literature and society > United States > History > 20th century
Motion pictures > United States > History
Narration (Rhetoric) > History > 20th century
Paranoia in literature
Postmodernism > United States
Online Access:DE-1043
DE-1046
DE-858
DE-859
DE-860
DE-473
DE-739
Volltext
Summary: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
Item Description:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 12. Dez 2020)
Physical Description:1 online resource (208 pages)
ISBN:9780822380641
DOI:10.1515/9780822380641

There is no print copy available.

Interlibrary loan Place Request Caution: Not in THWS collection! Get full text

Similar Items