The Literary and Cultural Rhetoric of Victimhood Western Europe, 197

In a series of paradigmatic readings of René Girard, Peter Sloterdijk, Michael Haneke, Anselm Kiefer, Michel Houellebecq, Elfriede Jelinek, Giorgio Agamben, Naqvi examines the current fascination with victimhood and the desire for victim status.

  • PDF / 1,876,984 Bytes
  • 266 Pages / 397 x 612 pts Page_size
  • 73 Downloads / 202 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


This page intentionally left blank

The Literary and Cultural Rhetoric of Victimhood Western Europe, 1970–2005

Fatima Naqvi

THE LITERARY AND CULTURAL RHETORIC OF VICTIMHOOD

© Fatima Naqvi, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-7570-6 This work includes material adapted from “The Politics of Contempt and the Ecology of Images: Michael Haneke’s Code inconnu,” in The Cosmopolitan Screen: German Cinema and the Global Imaginary, 1945 to the Present (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2007); from “The Abandoned Victim: Cosmology and History in Christoph Ransmayr and Anselm Kiefer” in German Life and Letters 57:2 (2004): 219–35; and from “Elfriede Jelinek’s PostDramatic Stress Disorder: Analysis of a Programmatic Aggression” in Gegenwartsliteratur (2006): 1–28.All images from Anselm Kiefer are Courtesy of the Gagosian Gallery; stills from Michael Haneke are courtesy of WegaFilm; drawings from Friederike Mayröcker are courtesy of the author. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53635-1 ISBN 978-0-230-60347-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230603479

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Naqvi, Fatima. The literary and cultural rhetoric of victimhood : Western Europe, 1970–2005 / by Fatima Naqvi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Social perception—Europe, Western. 2. Victims. 3. Victims in literature. 4. Social psychology—Europe, Western. I. Title. HN373.5.N36 2006 302.12—dc22

2006050185

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Content s

A Prefatory Note on Translations

vi

Acknowledgments

vii

Introduction Sacrificial Victims: Sigmund Freud, Theodor Adorno, and Max Horkheimer

1

1 Politics of Indifference: René Girard and Peter Sloterdijk

27

2 Mediated Invisibility: Michael Haneke

47

3 Apocalyptic Cosmologies: Christoph Ransmayr and Anselm Kiefer

73

4 Mourning is Moot: A Brief Reprise of Freud

101

5 Feminization and Impoverishment: Friederike Mayröcker

111

6 The Domain of Sexual Struggle: Michel Houellebecq

135

7 Cognitive Dissonances: Elfriede Jelinek

169

Notes

193

Works Cited

243

Index of Names

261

A Prefatory Note on Transl ations

After long consideration, I have made the following choices regarding tran