Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor

Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor

Creator
Summary
" 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. "--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
viii, 269 pages
Note
Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.) -- The Johns Hopkins University, 2009
Contents
  • Introduction: Immortal postmortems
  • Edgar Allan Poe's meta/physics
  • Henry Adams's half-life: The science of autobiography
  • "By an act of self-creation": on becoming human in America
  • Hoodoo you think you are?: self-conjuration in Chesnutt's The conjure woman
  • "It might be the death of you": Hurston's Voodoo ethnography
Isbn
9780816680610
Instance
Label
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature
Title
Universes without us
Title remainder
posthuman cosmologies in American literature
Statement of responsibility
Matthew A. Taylor
Title variation
Posthuman cosmologies in American literature
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
" 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. "--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1978-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Taylor, Matthew A.
Dewey number
810.9/384
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
PS217.P45
LC item number
T39 2013
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Cosmology in literature
  • American literature
  • American literature
  • Humanity in literature
  • Human beings in literature
  • Self in literature
  • Order (Philosophy) in literature
  • Poe, Edgar Allan
  • Adams, Henry
  • Chesnutt, Charles W.
  • Hurston, Zora Neale
  • LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General
  • PHILOSOPHY / General
  • LITERARY CRITICISM / Semiotics & Theory
Label
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
Instantiates
Publication
Note
Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.) -- The Johns Hopkins University, 2009
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Introduction: Immortal postmortems -- Edgar Allan Poe's meta/physics -- Henry Adams's half-life: The science of autobiography -- "By an act of self-creation": on becoming human in America -- Hoodoo you think you are?: self-conjuration in Chesnutt's The conjure woman -- "It might be the death of you": Hurston's Voodoo ethnography
Control code
840465547
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
viii, 269 pages
Isbn
9780816680610
Isbn Type
(pb)
Lccn
2013028372
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)840465547
Label
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
Publication
Note
Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.) -- The Johns Hopkins University, 2009
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Introduction: Immortal postmortems -- Edgar Allan Poe's meta/physics -- Henry Adams's half-life: The science of autobiography -- "By an act of self-creation": on becoming human in America -- Hoodoo you think you are?: self-conjuration in Chesnutt's The conjure woman -- "It might be the death of you": Hurston's Voodoo ethnography
Control code
840465547
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
viii, 269 pages
Isbn
9780816680610
Isbn Type
(pb)
Lccn
2013028372
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)840465547

Subject

Library Locations

    • Ellis LibraryBorrow it
      1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO, 65201, US
      38.944491 -92.326012

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by University of Missouri Libraries. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.
Processing Feedback ...