Reading Contingency: The Accident in Contemporary Fiction (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature)

In Reading Contingency: The Accident in Contemporary Fiction, David Wylot constructs an innovative study of the relationship between plotted accidents in twenty-first century British and American fiction, the phenomenology of reading, and a contemporary experience of time that is increasingly understood to be contingent and accidental. A synthesis of literary and cultural analysis, narratology, critical theories of time and the philosophy of contingency, the book explores the accident's imagination of contemporary time and the relationship between reading and living in novels by writers including A.M. Homes, Nicola Barker, Noah Hawley, J.M. Coetzee, J.G. Ballard, Jesmyn Ward, Jennifer Egan, and Tom McCarthy. Reading Contingency: The Accident In Contemporary Fiction Is An Innovative Study Of The Relationship Between Plotted Accidents In Twenty-first Century British And American Fiction And A Contemporary Experience Of Time That Is Increasingly Understood To Be Contingent And Accidental. A Synthesis Of Literary And Cultural Analysis, Narratology, Critical Theories Of Time And The Philosophy Of Contingency, The Book Explores The Accident's Imagination Of Contemporary Time And The Relationship Between Reading And Living In Novels By Writers Including A.m. Homes, Nicola Barker, Noah Hawley, J.m. Coetzee, J.g. Ballard, Jennifer Egan, And Tom Mccarthy-- Introduction: Accident And Contingency -- Time. Forwards: Accident, Event, Picaresque -- Backwards: Accident, Coincidence, Teleological Retrospection -- Narrative. Forwards And Backwards: Reading Contingency -- Accident Narratives. Radical Contingency -- Unassimilable Contingency -- Coda. David Wylot. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Reading Contingency: The Accident in Contemporary Fiction is an innovative study of the relationship between plotted accidents in twenty-first century British and American fiction and a contemporary experience of time that is increasingly understood to be contingent and accidental. A synthesis of literary and cultural analysis, narratology, critical theories of time and the philosophy of contingency, the book explores the accident's imagination of contemporary time and the relationship between reading and living in novels by writers including A.M. Homes, Nicola Barker, Noah Hawley, J.M. Coetzee, J.G. Ballard, Jennifer Egan, and Tom McCarthy"-- Provided by publisher In Reading Contingency: The Accident in Contemporary Fiction, David Wylot constructs an innovative study of the relationship between plotted accidents in 21st century British and American fiction, the phenomenology of reading, and a contemporary experience of time that is increasingly understood to be contingent and accidental.