Shortlisted for the BACLS Monograph Prize 2025
Theorizes the development of a minimalist mode in American fiction since 1970, frequently seen to interrogate US postmodernity.
Minimalism and Affect in American Literature, 1970-2020 responds to existing studies of literary minimalism by pursuing three original and interrelated objectives. It provides a more inclusive and precise definition of minimalism that enables further inquiry into the mode. It also exposes the presence of minimalism beyond critical demarcations that attempt to limit the aesthetic to a particular school, medium, movement, form or decade. Finally, it argues that writers of American literary minimalism are uniquely privileged in their ability to formalize precarity and threatening cultural currents into the fragile construct that is ordinary life.
Building upon theories of affect and the everyday, Minimalism and Affect in American Literature, 1970-2020 analyses minimalist aesthetics within the works of canonical minimalists alongside writers more frequently associated with other movements. Through readings of Ernest Hemingway, Joan Didion, Raymond Carver, Paul Auster and Don DeLillo, among others, and cultural phenomena ranging from sedation to telephony, this book exposes the persistence and political importance of minimalism within American literature from the 20th century into the 21st.
Theorizes the development of a minimalist mode in American fiction since 1970, frequently seen to interrogate US postmodernity.
Minimalism and Affect in American Literature, 1970-2020 responds to existing studies of literary minimalism by pursuing three original and interrelated objectives. It provides a more inclusive and precise definition of minimalism that enables further inquiry into the mode. It also exposes the presence of minimalism beyond critical demarcations that attempt to limit the aesthetic to a particular school, medium, movement, form or decade. Finally, it argues that writers of American literary minimalism are uniquely privileged in their ability to formalize precarity and threatening cultural currents into the fragile construct that is ordinary life.
Building upon theories of affect and the everyday, Minimalism and Affect in American Literature, 1970-2020 analyses minimalist aesthetics within the works of canonical minimalists alongside writers more frequently associated with other movements. Through readings of Ernest Hemingway, Joan Didion, Raymond Carver, Paul Auster and Don DeLillo, among others, and cultural phenomena ranging from sedation to telephony, this book exposes the persistence and political importance of minimalism within American literature from the 20th century into the 21st.
Zahle einfach mit Karte, Klarna, Apple Pay oder Google Pay. Nicht zufrieden? Du hast immer ein 14-tägiges Widerrufsrecht. Lies mehr in unseren AGB. Hast du Fragen, schreib uns eine E-Mail an hello@memmo.org.
Memmo macht das Lernen einfacher – wo auch immer du bist. Bei uns findest du deine Kursbücher und smarte Lerntools an einem Ort: Zusammenfassungen, Quizzes, Podcasts und Lernkarten. Und Ted, dein Lernbuddy, beantwortet alles, was du wissen möchtest. Über 50.000 Studierende lernen bereits hier – gemacht, damit du schneller lernst und weniger Stress hast.