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Absent Rebels: Criticism and Network Power in 21st Century Dystopian Fiction focuses on the relationship between literary dystopia, network power and neoliberalism, explaining why rebellion against a dystopian system is absent in so many contemporary dystopian novels. Also, this book helps readers understand modern power mechanisms and shows ways how to overcome them in our own daily lives.
List of contents
I. Introduction: Dystopia TodayII. The Dystopian Genre1. Genre, Etymology, and Definition of Utopian, Eutopian, and Dystopian Fiction2. The History of Dystopian Fiction3. Context, Criticism, and Rahel Jaeggi's Critique of Forms of Life (2014)3.1. Classical Dystopian Fiction, State Totalitarianism, and 'External Criticism'3.2. Contemporary Dystopian Fiction, Neoliberal Capitalism, and 'Immanent Criticism'III. 'Crowd-Founded' Dystopia: Dave Eggers' The Circle (20131. Corporate Dystopia - The Rise of the Circle2. "Don't You See That It's All Connected?"- The Company and Network Standards3. Network Standards - The Circlers' Loss of Identity and Longing for Recognition 4. "They Have Offered No Alternative" - The 'Eutopian' Monopoly of the Circle IV. The Totalitarian Face of Neoliberalism: Margaret Atwood's The Heart Goes Last (2015)1. "Jobs For All!" - The Eutopian Facade of Neoliberalism 2. "The Right Choice(!?)" - Involuntary Decisions Within Neoliberal Network3. The Banality of Dystopia - Totalitarianism as Product of the Free Market4. "I need to help fix this" - The Impossibility of Thinking beyond Neoliberal CapitalismV. Feeding Neoliberal Capitalism: M. T. Anderson's Feed (2002)1. Conceptionariums and Air Factories - The Commodification of Life and Nature2. "I Did Not Get the Job" - Network Standards, Neoliberal Capitalism, and the Feed3. Trendy Riot Gear & Evil Corporations - The Absence of Resistance 4. "Hope was looking off to the side" - The Inefficiency of 'External CriticismVI. Predatory Capitalism Throughout History: David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (2004)1. From Empire to Corpocracy - The History of Capitalism2. "Free Will Plays No Part in My Story" - Networks and Path Dependence3. A "Cannibals' Banqueting Hall" - Consumption and Its (Narratological) Limits4. "Hydra" versus "A Multitude of Drops" - 'Immanent Criticism' as Compass for ReformVII. Clones and Free-Market Capitalism: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)1. Our "Most Marketable Stuff" - The Commodification of Life, Art, and Sex2. "Tommy Had Brought All His Problems on Himself" - Individuals Within Networks 3. The Logic Behind Rebellion - The Confusion of Voluntariness and Freedom4. "That Frightened People" - The Failure of 'External Criticism'VIII. Dystopia, 'Immanent Criticism', and its Eutopian ImplicationIX. Works Cited
About the author
Annika Gonnermann hat am Lehrstuhl für Anglistische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft der Universität Mannheim gelehrt und promoviert. Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Dystopieforschung, sowie Kritische Theorie und Kapitalismuskritik.
