{"product_id":"futurity-amir-eshel-9780226924953","title":"Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past","description":"When looking at how trauma is represented in literature and the arts, we tend to focus on the weight of the past. In this book, Amir Eshel suggests that this retrospective gaze has trapped us in a search for reason in the madness of the twentieth century's catastrophes at the expense of literature's prospective vision. Considering several key literary works, Eshel argues in \u003ci\u003eFuturity \u003c\/i\u003ethat by grappling with watershed events of modernity, these works display a future-centric engagement with the past that opens up the present to new political, cultural, and ethical possibilities--what he calls futurity. Bringing together postwar German, Israeli, and Anglo-American literature, Eshel traces a shared trajectory of futurity in world literature. He begins by examining German works of fiction and the debates they spurred over the future character of Germany's public sphere. Turning to literary works by Jewish-Israeli writers as they revisit Israel's political birth, he shows how these stories inspired a powerful reconsideration of Israel's identity. Eshel then discusses post-1989 literature--from Ian McEwan's \u003ci\u003eBlack Dogs \u003c\/i\u003eto J. M. Coetzee's \u003ci\u003eDiary of a Bad Year\u003c\/i\u003e--revealing how these books turn to events like World War II and the Iraq War not simply to make sense of the past but to contemplate the political and intellectual horizon that emerged after 1989. Bringing to light how reflections on the past create tools for the future, \u003ci\u003eFuturity\u003c\/i\u003e reminds us of the numerous possibilities literature holds for grappling with the challenges of both today and tomorrow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Amir Eshel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226924955\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226924953\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/14\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013","brand":"Amir Eshel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086430023935,"sku":"9780226924953","price":49.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d01def90-2d8d-4114-b0ca-57d165300e02.jpg?v=1769094624","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/futurity-amir-eshel-9780226924953","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}