
The Concept of Tragedy
Its Importance for the Social Sciences in Unsettled Times
Sam Han(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 3. April 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
164 pages
978-0-367-62033-2 (ISBN)
Description
Events in the world today appear to be increasingly uncontrollable and unknowable. Climate change, refugee crises, and global pandemics seem to demonstrate the limits of human reason, science, and technology. In light of this, the terms "tragedy" and "tragic" have come into greater use. What does the register of the tragic do? What does its deployment in the contemporary context and other times of crisis mean? In addressing such questions, this book also argues for a "tragic vision" embedded in the history of social thought, demonstrating the relevance of the ancient tragedians and Aristotle as well as Shakespeare and modern dramatists to the most pressing questions of agency and collectivity in the social sciences. Developing a theory of "tragic social science," which is applied to topics including global inequality, celebrity culture, pandemics, and climate change, The Concept of Tragedy aims to restore "tragedy" as a productive analytic in the social sciences. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, anthropology, social theory, media and communications, and literary criticism with interests in tragedy, suffering, and modernity.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-62033-2 (9780367620332)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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04/2023
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Routledge
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Person
Sam Han is Lecturer in Sociology at Brunel University, London. He is the author of (Inter)Facing Death: Life in Global Uncertainty, Technologies of Religion: Spheres of the Sacred in a Post-Secular Modernity and Digital Culture and Religion in Asia (with Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir), and other works.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why tragedy? Why now?
Part I
Beyond intentionality: the will, agency, and subjectivity in ancient and classical tragedy
The tragic individual: catharsis, the hero, and the flaw in Aristotle and beyond
Modern tragedy and its subjects: Shakespeare, Freud, and post-Christian metaphysics
Part II
The theodicy of suffering: abjection under capitalism
From hero to celebrity: Fame, familiarity, and redemption
Tragedy of the commons: genre and collective agency amidst climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic
Toward a tragic social science: responsibility, critique, and thinking diffractively
Introduction: Why tragedy? Why now?
Part I
Beyond intentionality: the will, agency, and subjectivity in ancient and classical tragedy
The tragic individual: catharsis, the hero, and the flaw in Aristotle and beyond
Modern tragedy and its subjects: Shakespeare, Freud, and post-Christian metaphysics
Part II
The theodicy of suffering: abjection under capitalism
From hero to celebrity: Fame, familiarity, and redemption
Tragedy of the commons: genre and collective agency amidst climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic
Toward a tragic social science: responsibility, critique, and thinking diffractively