{"product_id":"the-shape-of-the-signifier-walter-benn-michaels-9780691126180","title":"The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Shape of the Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e is a critique of recent theory--primarily literary but also cultural and political. Bringing together previously unconnected strands of Michaels's thought--from \"Against Theory\" to \u003ci\u003eOur America\u003c\/i\u003e--it anatomizes what's fundamentally at stake when we think of literature in terms of the experience of the reader rather than the intention of the author, and when we substitute the question of who people are for the question of what they believe. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With signature virtuosity, Michaels shows how the replacement of ideological difference (we believe different things) with identitarian difference (we speak different languages, we have different bodies and different histories) organizes the thinking of writers from Richard Rorty to Octavia Butler to Samuel Huntington to Kathy Acker. He then examines how this shift produces the narrative logic of texts ranging from Toni Morrison's \u003ci\u003eBeloved\u003c\/i\u003e to Michael Hardt and Toni Negri's \u003ci\u003eEmpire\u003c\/i\u003e. As with everything Michaels writes, \u003ci\u003eThe Shape of the Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e is sure to leave controversy and debate in its wake.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Walter Benn Michaels\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691126186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691126180\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/29\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 232\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.72lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.26w x 0.55d","brand":"Walter Benn Michaels","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43925609611519,"sku":"9780691126180","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_4d98b45e-cd7b-44ca-a827-85259a888e12.jpg?v=1681078289","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-shape-of-the-signifier-walter-benn-michaels-9780691126180","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}