States of Exception in the Contemporary Novel

Arne De Boever is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Director of the MA Program in Aesthetics and Politics in the School of Critical Studies, California Institute of the Arts, USA.

"Arne De Boever offers a strikingly consistent and nuanced analysis of four important contemporary novels. His interdisciplinary theoretical approach, which combines present-day political theory with in-depth literary criticism, generates innovative insights. This highly readable book provides convincing and often fascinating interpretations that will be of value to students and scholars of literature as well as critical/political theory." -- Hilde Staels, Associate Professor of English Literature / Literary Theory, University of Leuven, Belgium

• DedicationAcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: Decision TimeA. September 11 and the Aesthetic DecisionB. The ChaptersC. Schmitt, Hobbes, Benjamin, BurnhamChapter One: States of Exception in Yann Martel's Life of PiA. IntroductionB. Political State of ExceptionC. Psychic State of ExceptionD. Theological State of ExceptionE. The Politics of AllegoryChapter Two: Autobiography and Human Rights in Jeffrey Eugenides' MiddlesexA. A Failure of ReadingB. Reading Human RightsC. The Political Life of SexD. Sex in TheoryE/ Autobiography and MessianismChapter Three: Literary Economies in J.M. Coetzee's DisgraceA. Disgrace, Once MoreB. The Circular Economy of ViolenceC. Reading IncestD. Lucy's CountE. Lucy as "the part of those who have no part"F. From Animals to Aesthetic EconomyChapter Four: Architectures of Exception in W.G. Sebald's AusterlitzA. Architecture, Trauma, and the CampsB. Reading FortificationsC. The Cabinet of WonderD. Architectures of the UncannyE. Moving TestimonyF. The Novel in Motion; or: The Politics of Austerlitz's AestheticConclusion: From Exception to Care A. Crisis and PlayB. Biopolitics, the Novel, and CareBibliographic ReferencesIndex