
Figures of Catastrophe
The Condition of Culture Novel
Francis Mulhern(Author)
Verso Books (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 26. January 2016
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-1-78478-191-0 (ISBN)
Description
The leading critic Francis Mulhern uncovers a hidden history in the fiction of the past century, identifying a central new genre: the condition of culture novel. Reading across and against the grain of received patterns of literary association, tracing a line from Hardy and Forster, through Woolf, Waugh and Bowen, to Barstow, Fowles, Rendell, Naipaul, Amis, Kureishi and Smith, he elucidates the recurring topics and narrative logics of the genre, showing how culture emerges as a special ground of social conflict, above all between classes. The narrative evaluations of culture's ends-the aspirations and the destinies of those whose lives are the subject of these novels-grow steadily darker over time, and the writing itself grows more introverted.
A concluding discussion elicits the characteristics of the English condition of culture novel, in an international setting, and closes in, finally, on the central conundrum of the genre: its uncanny reprise, in its own plane, of the historical arc of the modern labour movement in Britain, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century through its post-war heyday to the seemingly inexorable decline of recent decades.
A concluding discussion elicits the characteristics of the English condition of culture novel, in an international setting, and closes in, finally, on the central conundrum of the genre: its uncanny reprise, in its own plane, of the historical arc of the modern labour movement in Britain, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century through its post-war heyday to the seemingly inexorable decline of recent decades.
Reviews / Votes
An extraordinary, thoughtful and thought-provoking study, Figures of Catastrophe is very highly recommended for community and academic library Literary Studies reference collections and supplemental curriculums. * Midwest Book Review * Few critics could match the subtlety of Mulhern's interpretations or the eloquent precision of his prose. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it sends the reader back to the novels to test out its hypotheses, thus providing an education in the condition of culture novel and its polymorphic figures of catastrophe. -- Maud Ellman * Critical Inquiry * This is a book to be grateful for. * Criticism *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
328 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78478-191-0 (9781784781910)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2016
Verso Books
€26.49
Available for download
Person
Francis Mulhern (born 1952) comes from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. He was educated at University College Dublin and the University of Cambridge. He has taught at universities in Ireland, Italy, Brazil and the USA, and was for many years Professor of Critical Studies at Middlesex University until his resignation in 2010. He is Associate Editor of New Left Review.