Emily J. Hogg - Böcker

The contemporary moment is characterized by precarity – an expanding and intensifying vulnerability conditioned by political and economic structures. Using literary and cultural texts to develop a nuanced and critical exploration of the concept of precarity that emphasizes its contemporary manifestations while also attending to its historical roots and existential dimensions, this book examines the vulnerabilities which characterize our anxious existence, including unemployment, environmental crisis, temporary contracts and patterns of migration. Broken down into three key themes of feelings, bodies and time, Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture asks whether precarity can be considered a new phenomenon; explores the relationship between precarity and traditional class politics; analyses precarity’s global dimensions; and reflects on the links between contemporary crisis and underlying existential human vulnerability. With reference to a wide range of forms such as contemporary, realist, science fiction and modernist novels, film, theatre, and the lyric poem, this book goes beyond one national context to consider texts from the US, UK, Germany and South Africa.

The contemporary moment is characterized by precarity – an expanding and intensifying vulnerability conditioned by political and economic structures. Using literary and cultural texts to develop a nuanced and critical exploration of the concept of precarity that emphasizes its contemporary manifestations while also attending to its historical roots and existential dimensions, this book examines the vulnerabilities which characterize our anxious existence, including unemployment, environmental crisis, temporary contracts and patterns of migration. Broken down into three key themes of feelings, bodies and time, Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture asks whether precarity can be considered a new phenomenon; explores the relationship between precarity and traditional class politics; analyses precarity’s global dimensions; and reflects on the links between contemporary crisis and underlying existential human vulnerability. With reference to a wide range of forms such as contemporary, realist, science fiction and modernist novels, film, theatre, and the lyric poem, this book goes beyond one national context to consider texts from the US, UK, Germany and South Africa.

In a world wherein work is increasingly feminized, historical and contemporary literature can reveal what 'women's work' entails. Reading across different genres, time periods and geographical locations, this book explores gendered working lives through novels, poetry, comics, editorial work and book collecting. It moves from the library of an early modern noblewoman to protest comics in the 2017 Women's March, from Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich and Buchi Emecheta to writing from the 2020s about motherhood and explores topics as various as gossip, poetic scraps and household management as well as gender-based violence and the creation of feminist solidarity. In doing so, it shows how literary perspectives on labour and gender can provide insights into work that is otherwise made invisible and can help us to better understand the challenges of today's insecure work-lives.

In a world wherein work is increasingly feminized, historical and contemporary literature can reveal what ‘women’s work’ entails. Reading across different genres, time periods and geographical locations, this book explores gendered working lives through novels, poetry, comics, editorial work and book collecting. It moves from the library of an early modern noblewoman to protest comics in the 2017 Women’s March, from Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich and Buchi Emecheta to writing from the 2020s about motherhood and explores topics as various as gossip, poetic scraps and household management as well as gender-based violence and the creation of feminist solidarity. In doing so, it shows how literary perspectives on labour and gender can provide insights into work that is otherwise made invisible and can help us to better understand the challenges of today’s insecure work-lives.