Subjects of Substance

Recent U.S. literature has both been informed by, and critically engaged with, materialist conceptions of selfhood. Over the past decades, disciplines like neuroscience and evolutionary biology have increasingly recast the human self as a malleable construct produced by physiological processes. In a parallel development, literary authors have created their own conceptions of somatic subjectivity in conjunction or contrast with scientific and medical discourses. Subjects of Substance examines the forms, functions, and effects of materialist models of mind in selected memoirs and novels. Authors discussed include Michael W. Clune, Don DeLillo, Kay Redfield Jamison, Siri Hustvedt, Richard Powers, Elyn R. Saks, and David Foster Wallace.

Autorentext
Julian Henneberg, born in 1981, earned his doctorate from the Graduate School of North American Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. He lives and works in Berlin.

Klappentext

Subjects of Substance traces the ways in which materialist conceptions of selfhood inspire and shape recent U.S. literature. While disciplines like neuroscience and evolutionary biology transform the human self from an immaterial essence into a material construct, authors likewise develop conceptions of somatic subjectivity in conjunction and in contrast with scientific and medical discourses. The present study examines the forms, functions, and effects of materialist models of mind in a number of memoirs and novels. Authors discussed include Michael Clune, Don DeLillo, Kay Redfield Jamison, Siri Hustvedt, Richard Powers, Elyn R. Saks, and David Foster Wallace.

Zusammenfassung
Recent U.S. literature has been informed by and, at the same time, has made use of, materialist conceptions of selfhood. Over the past decades, disciplines like neuroscience and evolutionary biology have increasingly recast the human self as a malleable construct produced by physiological processes. In a parallel development, literary authors have created their own conceptions of somatic subjectivity in conjunction or contrast with scientific and medical discourses. Subjects of Substance examines the forms, functions, and effects of materialist models of mind in selected memoirs and novels. Authors discussed include Michael Clune, Don DeLillo, Kay Redfield Jamison, Siri Hustvedt, Richard Powers, Elyn R. Saks, and David Foster Wallace.