1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910799921103321

Autore

Swirski Peter <1963-, >

Titolo

American utopia and social engineering in literature, social thought, and political history / / Peter Swirski

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Routledge, , 2011

ISBN

1-136-72338-2

1-136-72339-0

1-283-15100-6

9786613151001

0-203-81661-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (266 p.)

Collana

Routledge transnational perspectives on American literature ; ; 15

Disciplina

813/.5409355

Soggetti

American fiction - 20th century - History and criticism

Political fiction, American - History and criticism

Utopias in literature

Social control in literature

National characteristics, American, in literature

Exceptionalism - United States

Social engineering - United States - History - 20th century

Political culture - United States - History - 20th century

Literature and society - United States - History - 20th century

Politics and literature - United States - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: life is more important than art or social engineering, eutopia, and evolution -- How I stopped worrying and loved behavioural engineering, or communal life, adaptations, and B.F. Skinner's Walden two -- You're not in Canada until you can hear the loons crying, or voting, people's power, and Ken Kesey's One flew over the cuckoo's nest -- You'll never make a monkey out of me, or altruism, proverbial wisdom, and Bernard Malamud's God's grace -- We better kill the instinct to kill before it kills us, or violence, mind control, and Walker Percy's The Thanatos syndrome -- It can't happen here, or



politics, emotions, and Philip Roth's The plot against America.

Sommario/riassunto

The United States today is afflicted with political alienation, militarized violence, institutionalized poverty, and social agony. Worst of all, perhaps, it is afflicted with chronic and acute ahistoricism. America insist on ignoring the context of its present dilemmas. It insists on forgetting what preceded the headlines of today and on denying continuity with history. It insists, in short, on its exceptionalism.American Utopia and Social Engineering sets out to correct this amnesia. It misses no opportunity to flesh out both the historical premises and the politic