America in Literature and Film: Modernist Perceptions, Postmodernist Representations

by Ahmed Elbeshlawy

Overview

Utilizing Lacan's psychoanalytic theory and Žižek's philosophical adaption of it, this book brings into dialogue a series of literary works, films and critical theory that are concerned with defining America. Elbeshlawy demonstrates that texts which particularly focus on explaining how other texts about America communicate an unreliable message, themselves communicate an untrustworthy message. Writers and films discussed include Adorno, Kafka, Sontag, Said, Hassan, Dogville and Birth of a Nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409478744
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	05/28/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ahmed Elbeshlawy is an independent scholar and occasional lecturer. He is author of Woman in Lars von Trier's Cinema (2016) and has contributed articles to The Comparatist (2008), the Palgrave Handbook to Literature and the City (2016), female/bodies (2005, 2006), Scope (2008) and Sexuality and Culture (2014).

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction: approaching America; Part I Modernist Perceptions: The epical American self and the psychotic phenomenon; D.H. Lawrence's radical criticism of America; The fiction of the castrating power of America: Kafka's dream; Adorno's fascist America. Part II Postmodernist Representations: America: a 'stereotype' and a 'beautiful imperialist'; America: the invincible and the surreal; Dogville: Lars Von Trier's desexualized America; Said's America: America's Said; Hassan's radical identification with America; Coda: America as an unrealized idea; Works cited; Filmography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

’...a compact, well-organised guide to modernism and postmodernism. The interdisciplinary chapters test and extend a variety of methodological approaches to literature and film. ...I recommend this book to scholars and students who are interested in transatlantic literary studies and/or Lacanian psychoanalysis.’ American Studies Today ’...through his psychoanalytic interrogation of America [Elbeshlawy] articulates some interesting theories about what modernist and postmodernist America could be. And while the idea of a plurality of Americas is not new, Elbeshlawy provides significant evidence for this idea. In addition, his readings of core modern and postmodern texts provide key insight into the continued relevance of Lacan and Zizek with regard to current American studies.’ Journal of American Studies ’...Elbeschlawy’s study raises a number of thoughtful questions about how the idea of America has shaped (and continues to shape) both the thought as well as the subjectivity of many of its most prominent critics.’ Amerikastudien

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