Ethics and Desire in the Wake of Postmodernism: Contemporary Satire (Continuum Literary Studies)

Whatis the significance of writing in the wake of postmodernism? The previousdecade has seen a growing interest in criticism of postmodern ethics andaesthetics from theorists and writers. This book begins to answer what art formor critical methodology might take its place. Exploringthe work of six contemporary novelists - Bret Easton Ellis, J.G. Ballard, WillSelf, Michel Houellebecq, Tama Janowitz and Chuck Palahniuk - Ethics andDesire in the Wake of Postmodernism delivers a series of interventions intosix key areas of contemporary debate: fear, nihilism, revolution, ethics,enjoyment and feminism. The book goes on to develop an innovative criticalmethodology which reinvigorates the ability of art and literature to engage inideological critique. Rather than valorising separatism, plurality orindeterminacy, this approach delivers a critical framework which enacts aradical de-centering of the fundamental coordinates of contemporary society. Read more