Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture

"The contemporary moment is characterized by precarity -- an expanding and intensifying vulnerability conditioned by political and economic structures. Using literary and cultural texts to develop a nuanced and critical exploration of the concept of precarity that emphasizes its contemporary manifestations, this book examines the vulnerabilities behind our anxious existence: unemployment, environmental crisis, temporary contracts and patterns of migration, all whilst attending to its historical roots and existential dimensions. Broken down into three key themes of feelings, bodies and time, Precarity in Contemporary Literature and Culture probes whether the concept can be considered a new phenomenon; explores the relationship between precarity and traditional class politics; analyses precarity's global dimensions; and reflects on the links between contemporary crisis, and underlying existential human vulnerability. With reference to a wide range of forms such as contemporary, realist, science fiction and modernist novels, film, theatre, and the lyric poem, this book goes beyond one national context to consider texts from the US, UK, Germany and South Africa."--