Speculative Satire in Contemporary Literature and Film : Rant Against the Regime

Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire __the Rant__. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectacles—major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novels—designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls __the Regime__. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: __speculative satire__. Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire the Rant. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectacles—major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novels—designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls the Regime. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: speculative satire. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of contents 8 Acknowledgments 9 The Briefest of Introductions: What, Why, How 10 What 10 Why 11 How 11 Note 12 1 The Rant 13 Modern State, Postmodern Critique 13 Satire 15 Science Fiction 22 Monster Tale 35 Post-Marxism versus The Man 40 To Sum Up 46 Notes 47 2 The Regime 50 Neoconservatism 51 Neoliberalism 55 Sphere 1: Corporations and the Workplace 63 Sphere 2: Financial Markets 67 Sphere 3: Ideology 71 Neolib + Neocon = Hegemon 77 To Sum Up 78 Notes 79 3 Ranting Against the Regime 82 Satire/Sci-fi/Monstrosity at Work 82 Ideology Exposed 94 The Rant Playbook 103 Satire 103 Science-fiction 104 Monstrosity 104 Foucault and Deleuze 104 The Regime at Work 104 Post-Marxism 105 Harvey’s Lessons for Fighting Back: 105 Notes 105 4 Living Under a Lousy Orthodoxy 107 Snowpiercer (2013) 107 The MaddAddam Trilogy (2003–2013) 118 Neolib–Neocon on the Rampage 118 Radical and Plural Ecology 125 Monstrous Lost Boys 128 Notes 134 5 Special Topic Rants 136 Get Out (2017) 136 “Men Against Fire,” Black Mirror (season 3, episode 5, 2016) 146 “Late,” The Handmaid’s Tale (season 1, episode 3, 2017) 155 Notes 160 6 Neoliberal A.I. 162 Its Using Us 163 Our Using It 174 Its Wanting to Be Us and Our Wanting to Be It 185 And So ... 190 Notes 190 The Briefest of Conclusions: So What? Why Bother? How Does This Matter? 192 Bibliography 195 Index 204 Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire the Rant. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectaclesâ••major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novelsâ••designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls the Regime. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: speculative satire. Since 1980, when neoliberal and neoconservative forces began their hostile takeover of western culture, a new type of political satire has emerged that works to unmask and deter those toxic doctrines. Literary and cultural critic Kirk Combe calls this new form of satire the Rant. The Rant is grim, highly imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres. It mixes facets of satire, science fiction, and monster tale to produce widely consumed spectacles—major studio movies, popular television/streaming series, bestselling novels—designed to disturb and to provoke. The Rant targets what Combe calls the Regime. Simply put, the Regime is the sum of the dangerous social, economic, and political orthodoxies spurred on by neoliberal and neoconservative polity. Such practices include free-market capitalism, corporatism, militarism, religiosity, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and so on. In the Rant, then, we have a unique and wholly contemporary genre of political expression and protest: speculative satire.Chapters 1 and 5 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Kirk Combe. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. London Available Via World Wide Web. Kirk Combe Isprofessor Of English At Denison University In Ohio. He Teaches And Researches In Satire And Drama, Cultural Studies, And Popular Culture. On These Topics, He's Published Numerous Books And Articles, Including Theorizing Satire: Essays In Literary Criticism And Masculinity And Monstrosity In Contemporary Hollywood Films. "Kirk Combe theorizes a new type of contemporary political satire: the Rant. Grim, imaginative, and complex in its blending of genres, the Rant targets the Regime-the dangerous social and economic orthodoxies of neoliberalism and neoconservatism"-- Provided by publisher