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"Latent Destinies" provides a smartly informed paradigm for understanding postmodern U.S. narratives, both aesthetic and theoretical. Examining a representative sample of these, O'Donnell finds that they indulge a cultural paranoia that wags the tail of their late-capitalist "bete noire."--Louis A. Renza, Dartmouth College
List of contents
Preface
Entry: The Time of Paranoia
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1. Postmodernity and the Symptom of Paranoia
The Sympton of Paranoia
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Paranoia and History: Latent Destiny
Postmodern Temporalities
2. Headshots: The Theater of Paranoia
Branch-Work:
Libra>
Stone’s Oedipus:
JFK>
Performing Character:
Oswald’s Tale 3. Engendering Paranoia
The Point of the Cry:
The Crying of Lot 49>
The Umbra of Difference:
The Shadow Knows>
Exposing Paranoia:
Empire of the Senseless 4. Criminality and Paranoia
The Voice of Paranoia:
The Executioner’s Song
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The Cultural Logic of Paranoia:
The Killer Inside Me Men in Black:
Reservoir Dogs Exit: Under History:
Underworld Notes
Bibliography
About the author
Patrick O’Donnell is Professor and Chair of the Department of English at Michigan State University. He is author of Echo Chambers: Figuring the Voice in Modern Narrative and Passionate Doubts: Designs of Interpretation in Contemporary American Fiction.
Summary
Examines the formation of postmodern sensibilities and their relationship to varieties of paranoia that have been seen as widespread. This book argues that paranoia on the broadly cultural level is essentially a narrative process in which history and postmodern identity are negotiated simultaneously.
