Literature and ''interregnum'': globalization, war, and the crisis of sovereignty in Latin America

Tonalities of literature in post-dictatorship Argentina: mood and history in post-utopian times -- Mediatization and the literary neo-avant-garde in Argentina -- The dis-jointures of history: market, virtuoso labor, and natural history in post-dictatorship Chile -- Literary contretemps: histories of love, labor, and abandonment -- Repetition or interruption? the fate of modernity in the time of globalization and global war -- Afterword: From Ciudad Juárez to Latin America.;Literature and "Interregnum" examines the unraveling of the political forms of modernity through readings of end-of-millennium literary texts by Csar Aira, Marcelo Cohen, Sergio Chejfec, Diamela Eltit, and Roberto Bolao. The opening of national spaces to the global capitalist system in the 1980s culminates in the suspension of key principles of modernity, most notably that of political sovereignty. While the neoliberal model subjugates modern forms of social organization and political decision making to an economic rationale, the market is unable to provide a new ordering principle that could fill the empty place formerly occupied by the national figure of the sovereign. The result is a situation that resembles what the Italian political philosopher Antonio Gramsci termed "interregnum," an in-between time in which "the old [order] is dying and the new cannot be born." The recoding of history as literary form provides occasions for reconsidering modern conceptualizations of aesthetic experience, mood, temporality, thought, politics, ethical experience, as well as of literature itself as social institution. In his analysis, Patrick Dove seeks to create dialogues between literature and theoretical perspectives, including Continental philosophy, political thought, psychoanalysis, and sociology of globalization. The author highlights the connections between mass media, technology, politics, and economics. Literature and "Interregnum" examines the unraveling of the political forms of modernity through readings of end-of-millennium literary texts by César Aira, Marcelo Cohen, Sergio Chejfec, Diamela Eltit, and Roberto Bolaño. The opening of national spaces to the global capitalist system in the 1980s culminates in the suspension of key principles of modernity, most notably that of political sovereignty. While the neoliberal model subjugates modern forms of social organization and political decision making to an economic rationale, the market is unable to provide a new ordering principle that could fill the empty place formerly occupied by the national figure of the sovereign. The result is a situation that resembles what the Italian political philosopher Antonio Gramsci termed "interregnum," an in-between time in which "the old [order] is dying and the new cannot be born." The recoding of history as literary form provides occasions for reconsidering modern conceptualizations of aesthetic experience, mood, temporality, thought, politics, ethical experience, as well as of literature itself as social institution. In his analysis, Patrick Dove seeks to create dialogues between literature and theoretical perspectives, including Continental philosophy, political thought, psychoanalysis, and sociology of globalization. The author highlights the connections between mass media, technology, politics, and economics. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1. Tonalities of Literature in Post-dictatorship Argentina: Mood and History in Post-Utopian Times 34 Philosophical Critique and the Darkening of the World: Thinking, Mood, and Attunement 42 The Moods of History 68 2. Mediatization and the Literary Neo-Avant-Garde in Argentina 82 3. The Dis-jointures of History: Market, Virtuoso Labor, and Natural History in Post-dictatorship Chile 132 4. Literary Contretemps: Histories of Love, Labor, and Abandonment 178 Form and Indetermination: Poiesis and Tekhné in the Time of Mechanical Production 208 5. Repetition or Interruption?: The Fate of Modernity in the Time of Globalization and Global War 226 Afterword: From Ciudad Juárez to Latin America 272 Notes 282 Bibliography 318 Index 332 Tonalities of literature in post-dictatorship Argentina: mood and history in post-utopian times Mediatization and the literary neo-avant garde in Argentina The dis-jointures of history: market, virtuoso labor, and natural history in post-dictatorship Chile Literary contretemps: histories of love, labor, and abandonment Repetition or interruption? the fate of modernity in the time of globalization and global war Afterword: From Ciudad Juárez to Latin America.