Universes without us : : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / / Matthew A. Taylor.
" During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a wide variety of American writers proposed the existence of energies connecting human beings to cosmic processes. From varying points of view--scientific, philosophical, religious, and literary--they suggested that such energies would even...
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Place / Publishing House: | Minneapolis : : University of Minnesota Press,, [2013] 2013 |
Year of Publication: | 2013 |
Language: | English |
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Physical Description: | 1 online resource (279 pages) :; illustrations |
Notes: | Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.) -- The Johns Hopkins University, 2009. |
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Taylor, Matthew A., 1978- author. Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / Matthew A. Taylor. Posthuman cosmologies in American literature Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2013] 2013 1 online resource (279 pages) : illustrations text rdacontent computer rdamedia online resource rdacarrier Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.) -- The Johns Hopkins University, 2009. Includes bibliographical references and index. Machine generated contents note: -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Immortal Post-Mortems -- 1. Edgar Allan Poe's Meta/Physics -- 2. Henry Adams's Half-Life: The Science of Autobiography -- 3. "By an Act of Self-Creation": On Becoming Human in America -- 4. Hoodoo You Think You Are?: Self-Conjuration in Chesnutt's The Conjure Woman -- 5. "It Might Be the Death of You": Hurston's Voodoo Ethnography -- Coda: "The Cosmo-Political Party" -- Notes -- Index. " During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a wide variety of American writers proposed the existence of energies connecting human beings to cosmic processes. From varying points of view--scientific, philosophical, religious, and literary--they suggested that such energies would eventually result in the perfection of individual and collective bodies, assuming that assimilation into larger networks of being meant the expansion of humanity's powers and potentialities--a belief that continues to inform much posthumanist theory today. Universes without Us explores a lesser-known countertradition in American literature. As Matthew A. Taylor's incisive readings reveal, the heterodox cosmologies of Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Adams, Charles Chesnutt, and Zora Neale Hurston reject the anthropocentric fantasy that sees the universe as a kind of reservoir of self-realization. For these authors, the world can be made neither "other" nor "mirror." Instead, humans are enmeshed with "alien" processes that are both constitutive and destructive of "us." By envisioning universes no longer our own, these cosmologies picture a form of interconnectedness that denies any human ability to master it. Universes without Us demonstrates how the questions, possibilities, and dangers raised by the posthuman appeared nearly two centuries ago. Taylor finds in these works an untimely engagement with posthumanism, particularly in their imagining of universes in which humans are only one category of heterogeneous thing in a vast array of species, objects, and forces. He shows how posthumanist theory can illuminate American literary texts and how those texts might, in turn, prompt a reassessment of posthumanist theory. By understanding the posthuman as a materialist cosmology rather than a technological innovation, Taylor extends the range of thinkers who can be included in contemporary conversations about the posthuman. "-- Provided by publisher. Description based on print version record. Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries. Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 Criticism and interpretation. Adams, Henry, 1838-1918 Criticism and interpretation. Chesnutt, Charles W. (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932 Criticism and interpretation. Hurston, Zora Neale Criticism and interpretation. Cosmology in literature. American literature 19th century History and criticism. American literature 20th century History and criticism. Humanity in literature. Human beings in literature. Self in literature. Order (Philosophy) in literature. Electronic books. Print version: Taylor, Matthew A. Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2013] viii, 269 pages 9780816680610 (DLC)10843271 ProQuest (Firm) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oeawat/detail.action?docID=1643684 Click to View |
language |
English |
format |
eBook |
author |
Taylor, Matthew A., 1978- |
spellingShingle |
Taylor, Matthew A., 1978- Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / Machine generated contents note: -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Immortal Post-Mortems -- 1. Edgar Allan Poe's Meta/Physics -- 2. Henry Adams's Half-Life: The Science of Autobiography -- 3. "By an Act of Self-Creation": On Becoming Human in America -- 4. Hoodoo You Think You Are?: Self-Conjuration in Chesnutt's The Conjure Woman -- 5. "It Might Be the Death of You": Hurston's Voodoo Ethnography -- Coda: "The Cosmo-Political Party" -- Notes -- Index. |
author_facet |
Taylor, Matthew A., 1978- |
author_variant |
m a t ma mat |
author_role |
VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
Taylor, Matthew A., 1978- |
title |
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / |
title_sub |
posthuman cosmologies in American literature / |
title_full |
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / Matthew A. Taylor. |
title_fullStr |
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / Matthew A. Taylor. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / Matthew A. Taylor. |
title_auth |
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / |
title_alt |
Posthuman cosmologies in American literature |
title_new |
Universes without us : |
title_sort |
universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in american literature / |
publisher |
University of Minnesota Press, |
publishDate |
2013 |
physical |
1 online resource (279 pages) : illustrations |
contents |
Machine generated contents note: -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Immortal Post-Mortems -- 1. Edgar Allan Poe's Meta/Physics -- 2. Henry Adams's Half-Life: The Science of Autobiography -- 3. "By an Act of Self-Creation": On Becoming Human in America -- 4. Hoodoo You Think You Are?: Self-Conjuration in Chesnutt's The Conjure Woman -- 5. "It Might Be the Death of You": Hurston's Voodoo Ethnography -- Coda: "The Cosmo-Political Party" -- Notes -- Index. |
isbn |
9781452940519 9780816680610 |
callnumber-first |
P - Language and Literature |
callnumber-subject |
PS - American Literature |
callnumber-label |
PS217 |
callnumber-sort |
PS 3217 P45 T39 42013 |
genre |
Electronic books. |
genre_facet |
Electronic books. |
era_facet |
1809-1849 1838-1918 1858-1932 19th century 20th century |
url |
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oeawat/detail.action?docID=1643684 |
illustrated |
Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
800 - Literature |
dewey-tens |
810 - American literature in English |
dewey-ones |
810 - American literature in English |
dewey-full |
810.9/384 |
dewey-sort |
3810.9 3384 |
dewey-raw |
810.9/384 |
dewey-search |
810.9/384 |
oclc_num |
871781386 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT taylormatthewa universeswithoutusposthumancosmologiesinamericanliterature AT taylormatthewa posthumancosmologiesinamericanliterature |
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(MiAaPQ)5001643684 (Au-PeEL)EBL1643684 (CaPaEBR)ebr10843271 (CaONFJC)MIL578966 (OCoLC)871781386 |
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Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature / |
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