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Refigurations of Freedom: An Analysis of the Idea of Freedom in Contemporary American Young Adult Dystopian Fiction New edition [Kietas viršelis]

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  • Formatas: Hardback, 190 pages, aukštis x plotis: 210x148 mm, weight: 322 g
  • Serija: New Americanists in Poland 15
  • Išleidimo metai: 13-Jun-2022
  • Leidėjas: Peter Lang AG
  • ISBN-10: 3631877404
  • ISBN-13: 9783631877401
Kitos knygos pagal šią temą:
  • Formatas: Hardback, 190 pages, aukštis x plotis: 210x148 mm, weight: 322 g
  • Serija: New Americanists in Poland 15
  • Išleidimo metai: 13-Jun-2022
  • Leidėjas: Peter Lang AG
  • ISBN-10: 3631877404
  • ISBN-13: 9783631877401
Kitos knygos pagal šią temą:

The idea of freedom has been celebrated and contested throughout the ages, and amidst great civilizational changes of the early twenty-first century freedom’s future seems to entail its profound refiguration that will transform the whole democratic paradigm, as envisioned through the critical lenses of dystopian literary imaginings.



The idea of freedom, changed and contested throughout the ages, has become the staple of liberal democracies and a beacon of hope amidst dark tendencies that endanger the future. This books offers an analysis of freedom in the context of its historical significance for the Western civilization, newly emerging socio-political trends, and the proliferation of innovative technologies that all converge to shape human life in the nearest future. All of these prolific topics permeate modern literature, and in particular the work of American dystopian writers who convey visions of the future where profound refiguration of freedom and the whole democratic paradigm is inevitable.

Introduction 9(8)
Chapter One An Overview of the Idea of Freedom in the Western World
17(38)
1.1 Freedom in Ancient Greece
17(8)
1.1.1 Individual Freedom in a Universe Determined by Fate and the Gods
18(1)
1.1.2 The Social Basis of the Ancient Idea of Freedom: The Dichotomy of Freedom and Enslavement
18(2)
1.1.3 The Political Dimension of Freedom in Ancient Greece
20(3)
1.1.4 Freedom as Virtue in Ancient Greek Philosophy
23(2)
1.2 Freedom in Ancient Rome
25(3)
1.2.1 Freedom and Enslavement in the Social Context of Ancient Rome
25(1)
1.2.2 The Political Dimension of Freedom in Ancient Rome
26(1)
1.2.3 Freedom as Virtue in Ancient Rome
27(1)
1.3 Medieval Christianity and Freedom
28(5)
1.4 Freedom in Modern Europe
33(9)
1.4.1 The End of Feudal Social Relationships and the Advent of New Ways of Viewing Freedom
33(1)
1.4.2 The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on the Emergence of New Ideas of Freedom
34(1)
1.4.3 Social Expansion of the Notion of Freedom
35(1)
1.4.4 Intellectual Freedom
36(1)
1.4.5 The Growth of Political Freedom
37(5)
1.5 The Rise of Democratic Freedom in America
42(10)
1.5.1 Lockean Natural Rights as the Foundation of American Freedom
42(1)
1.5.2 The Birth of American Freedom
43(2)
1.5.3 The Notion of Freedom at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century
45(1)
1.5.4 Freedom and the Rise of the Common Man
46(1)
1.5.5 Freedom and Democracy in the Jacksonian Era
46(1)
1.5.6 The Incompatibility of American Freedom and Slavery
47(1)
1.5.7 Economic Freedom in the Gilded Age
48(1)
1.5.8 The Expansion of Freedom in the Progressive Era
49(1)
1.5.9 Freedom and the Women's Rights Movement
49(1)
1.5.10 Freedom and the Civil Rights Movement
50(2)
1.6 Freedom in the Recent Era
52(3)
Chapter Two The Failure of Uncontested Freedom
55(34)
2.1 Uncontested Freedom
55(9)
2.2 Dystopian Fiction as a Fitting Genre for Considerations of Human Freedom
64(3)
2.3 Looming Dangers to Freedom in Selected YA Dystopian Fiction
67(22)
Chapter Three Contested Freedom and Its Negotiations
89(32)
3.1 Freedom vs. the Police State and the Clash of Civilizations
92(2)
3.2 Freedom, Globalization and Economic Upheaval
94(3)
3.3 Freedom and Its Negotiations
97(3)
3.4 Young Adult Dystopian Narratives and a Redefinition of Freedom
100(21)
Chapter Four Freedom in a Posthuman Future
121(42)
4.1 Posthumanism: Key Ideas
121(4)
4.2 Transhumanism: Key Ideas
125(3)
4.3 Criticism of Posthumanism and Transhumanism: Ethical Concerns
128(2)
4.4 Freedom and the Posthuman/Transhuman Future
130(5)
4.5 Whose Freedom? Biotechnological Subversion of Egalitarianism
135(10)
4.6 Transhuman/Posthuman Philosophy in YA Dystopian Narratives
145(12)
4.6.1 Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series: The Shapes of Posthuman Freedom and the Eugenic Impulse
146(5)
4.6.2 Neal Shusterman's Unwind Series and Nancy Famer's Novel The House of the Scorpion: Denying Freedom via Biotechnological Instrumentalization of Human Nature
151(6)
4.7 Freedom and Cyberspace
157(6)
Conclusions 163(10)
References 173(12)
Index of Names 185
Robert Gadowski completed his doctoral dissertation in philology at the University of Wrocaw, Poland. His academic interests involve the areas of literary studies, social sciences and political philosophy.