The Resource Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
Resource Information
The item Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of San Diego Libraries.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of San Diego Libraries.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- 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
- Extent
- 1 online resource (280 pages)
- 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
- 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
- Subject
-
- Adams, Henry, 1838-1918
- Adams, Henry, 1838-1918 -- Criticism and interpretation
- American literature
- American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- American literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism
- Chesnutt, Charles W., (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932
- Chesnutt, Charles W., (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Cosmology in literature
- Cosmology in literature
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Electronic book
- Electronic books
- Human beings in literature
- Human beings in literature
- 1800-1999
- Humanity in literature
- Hurston, Zora Neale
- Hurston, Zora Neale -- Criticism and interpretation
- LITERARY CRITICISM -- American | General
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- PHILOSOPHY -- General
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Self in literature
- Self in literature
- Humanity in literature
- 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
- MHW
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
- 1978-
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Taylor, Matthew A.
- Index
- index present
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
-
- dictionaries
- bibliography
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Poe, Edgar Allan
- Adams, Henry
- Chesnutt, Charles W.
- Hurston, Zora Neale
- Adams, Henry
- Chesnutt, Charles W.
- Hurston, Zora Neale
- Poe, Edgar Allan
- Cosmology in literature
- American literature
- American literature
- Humanity in literature
- Human beings in literature
- Self in literature
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- LITERARY CRITICISM
- PHILOSOPHY
- American literature
- Cosmology in literature
- Human beings in literature
- Humanity in literature
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- Self in literature
- Label
- Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Color
- multicolored
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- 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
- ocn871781386
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (280 pages)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Isbn
- 9780816680610
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- Note
- JSTOR
- http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
- 22573/ctt5rkb10
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- unknown sound
- Specific material designation
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)871781386
- Label
- Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor
- Antecedent source
- unknown
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- online resource
- Carrier category code
-
- cr
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Color
- multicolored
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- 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
- ocn871781386
- Dimensions
- unknown
- Extent
- 1 online resource (280 pages)
- File format
- unknown
- Form of item
- online
- Isbn
- 9780816680610
- Level of compression
- unknown
- Media category
- computer
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- c
- Note
- JSTOR
- http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
- 22573/ctt5rkb10
- Quality assurance targets
- not applicable
- Reformatting quality
- unknown
- Sound
- unknown sound
- Specific material designation
- remote
- System control number
- (OCoLC)871781386
Subject
- Adams, Henry, 1838-1918
- Adams, Henry, 1838-1918 -- Criticism and interpretation
- American literature
- American literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism
- American literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism
- Chesnutt, Charles W., (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932
- Chesnutt, Charles W., (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Cosmology in literature
- Cosmology in literature
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Electronic book
- Electronic books
- Human beings in literature
- Human beings in literature
- 1800-1999
- Humanity in literature
- Hurston, Zora Neale
- Hurston, Zora Neale -- Criticism and interpretation
- LITERARY CRITICISM -- American | General
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- Order (Philosophy) in literature
- PHILOSOPHY -- General
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 -- Criticism and interpretation
- Self in literature
- Self in literature
- Humanity in literature
Genre
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<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.sandiego.edu/portal/Universes-without-us--posthuman-cosmologies-in/NT2dA19otjY/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.sandiego.edu/portal/Universes-without-us--posthuman-cosmologies-in/NT2dA19otjY/">Universes without us : posthuman cosmologies in American literature, Matthew A. Taylor</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.sandiego.edu/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.sandiego.edu/">University of San Diego Libraries</a></span></span></span></span></div>