Updike and Politics
New Considerations
Published on 27. June 2019
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-4985-7560-7 (ISBN)
Description
Presenting the first interdisciplinary consideration of his political thought, Updike and Politics: New Considerations establishes a new scholarly foundation for assessing one of the most recognized and significant American writers of the post-1945 period. This book brings together a diverse group of American and international scholars, including contributors from Japan, India, Israel, and Europe. Like Updike himself, the collection canvases a wide range of topics, including Updike's too often overlooked poetry and his single play. Its essays deal with not only political themes such as the traditional aspects of power, rights, equality, justice, or violence but also the more divisive elements in Updike's work like race, gender, imperialism, hegemony, and technology. Ultimately, the book reveals how Updike's immense body of work illuminates the central political questions and problems that troubled American culture during the second half of the twentieth century as well as the opening decade of the new millennium.
Reviews / Votes
This collection of essays adds depth to our understanding of Updike as a political writer. The book is especially valuable to scholars of late-twentieth and early twenty-first century literature for its investigations of intersections between the personal and the political. It exposes Updike's nuanced perspectives on institutions such as the American presidency, and it provides thought-provoking explorations of politically charged and transformative American experiences including the War in Vietnam, the Cold War, and the attacks of September 11, 2001. -- Liliana M. Naydan, Penn State Abington This collection provides a timely and much-needed perspective on Updike and political life. The editors have selected impressive essays from established Updike critics, international scholars, and some newer voices to display a rich range of interpretations. The essays are elegantly framed by the introduction, and they collectively advance an urgent critical conversation. Updike and Politics: New Considerations is an important contribution: it sharpens our understanding of an essential American writer through a crucial context. -- Quentin Miller, Suffolk UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
612 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4985-7560-7 (9781498575607)
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.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Updike and Politics
New Considerations
E-Book
06/2019
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€98.99
Available for download
E-Book
06/2019
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€98.99
Available for download
Persons
Matthew Shipe is senior lecturer and the director of Advanced Writing in the English department at Washington University, Missouri.
Scott Dill is lecturer of English at Case Western Reserve University.
Scott Dill is lecturer of English at Case Western Reserve University.
Content
Chapter 1: Updike and the American Presidency
Chapter 2: "We're None of Us Perfect": Watergate and Adultery in John Updike's A Month of Sundays and Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 3: Presidential Politics as Sexual Politics: Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 4: Updike, Obama and the Poetics of Hope
Chapter 5: Updike on Demagoguery
Chapter 6: 'Love it or leave it': America in red, gray and blue in Rabbit Redux
Chapter 7: 'Mail' Chauvinism: John Updike's Postal Fetish and the Unrealizable Vision of American Democracy
Chapter 8: The Failure of Moderation in Buchanan Dying and Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 9: Inside Reagan's 'Placid, Uncluttered Head': Roger's Version and the Rise of Neoliberalism
Chapter 10: The Politics of Vulnerability in The Afterlife and Other Stories
Chapter 11: John Updike's Terrorist and the Politics of Hygiene
Chapter 12: Updike's Middle East: A Neoliberal Approach to Conflict Resolution
Chapter 13: Updike "Third-Worlds It": Staging The Coup as Political Satire
Chapter 14: The Three Mile Island Accident and the Man from Toyota: American Cold War Cultural Politics,Ressentiment, and the Uncanny Double in Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit at Rest
Chapter 15: John Updike and the World: The Politics of Identity in Brazil
Chapter 2: "We're None of Us Perfect": Watergate and Adultery in John Updike's A Month of Sundays and Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 3: Presidential Politics as Sexual Politics: Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 4: Updike, Obama and the Poetics of Hope
Chapter 5: Updike on Demagoguery
Chapter 6: 'Love it or leave it': America in red, gray and blue in Rabbit Redux
Chapter 7: 'Mail' Chauvinism: John Updike's Postal Fetish and the Unrealizable Vision of American Democracy
Chapter 8: The Failure of Moderation in Buchanan Dying and Memories of the Ford Administration
Chapter 9: Inside Reagan's 'Placid, Uncluttered Head': Roger's Version and the Rise of Neoliberalism
Chapter 10: The Politics of Vulnerability in The Afterlife and Other Stories
Chapter 11: John Updike's Terrorist and the Politics of Hygiene
Chapter 12: Updike's Middle East: A Neoliberal Approach to Conflict Resolution
Chapter 13: Updike "Third-Worlds It": Staging The Coup as Political Satire
Chapter 14: The Three Mile Island Accident and the Man from Toyota: American Cold War Cultural Politics,Ressentiment, and the Uncanny Double in Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit at Rest
Chapter 15: John Updike and the World: The Politics of Identity in Brazil