The Eugenetic Imagination - Eugenics and Genetics in Early 21st-Century Anglo-American Fiction

This book addresses a research gap in the study of eugenics in fictional literature: the analysis of the nexus of eugenics and genetics in 21st-century novels, detached from their authors' ideological beliefs. It is based on an understanding of literature as an interdiscourse in Jürgen Link's sense. The study employs categories developed by Rabinow and Rose in the context of Foucault's concept of "biopower." It thereby demonstrates that, though officially fallen from grace in light of the Nazi atrocities committed in the name of racial hygiene, eugenic ideas remain surprisingly resilient in the sciences as well as in fiction. Thus, the nexus between eugenics and genetics continues to serve as an important force in the structuring of scientific and contemporary popular (inter-)discourses.

List of contents

Inhaltsverzeichnis - List of Abbreviations- Introduction- Eugenic Literatures- What's in a Name?- Simon Mawer: Mendel's Dwarf (1997)- Dan Brown, Inferno (2013)- Robert Sawyer: The Neanderthal Parallax (2002-2003)- Jodi Picoult, Second Glance (2003- Writing the Eugenetic Imagination- Works Cited- Literature- Criticism

Product details

• Authors: Melanie Schrage-Lang
• Assisted by: Daniel Göske (Editor)
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.12.2022
• EAN: 9783631876978
• ISBN: 978-3-631-87697-8
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 21 mm x 210 mm
• Weight: 441 g
• Illustrations: 1 Abb.
• Series: MeLiS. Medien - Literaturen - Sprachen in Anglistik/Amerikanistik, Germanistik und Romanistik; MeLiS. Medien ¿ Literaturen ¿ Sprachen in Anglistik/Amerikanistik, Germanistik und Romanistik
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics