Throughout the course of this thesis, I argue that the prose of David Foster Wallace, specifically his posthumously published novel The Pale King, inhabits a middle ground between universal sincerity and the particularized authenticity of postmodern irony. I examine Lionel Trilling's definitions of sincerity and authenticity before moving toward an...
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Raymond J. Malewitz
Throughout the course of this thesis, I argue that the prose of David
While metaphysical turmoil is the essential human problem in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Preludes,” traditional criticism of the poems relegates the physical world to a merely rhetorical role. This thesis argues that Eliot’s use of objects in his poetry suggests they...
For centuries, continental philosophy has clung to the belief that the world only meaningfully exists through human perception--that, in other words, when a tree falls in the forest, it does not make a sound. Literary theory, which has strong roots in continental philosophy, followed suit, remaining tied to humanism even...
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Raymond J. Malewitz
For centuries, continental philosophy has clung to the belief that the
Jimmy Corrigan is a work steeped in what it means to live in the United States as a capitalist nation. Within the novel, the United States presents itself as a grand world power through events such as the Chicago World Exposition. In direct contrast, individuals in the work are anything...
Judith Butler’s 1990 Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity shaped our current understandings of queer theory not only in the academic world, but all over America as the constitutional and social rights of the LGBT+ community are hotly debated. Butler’s theory claims that gender is performed through imitation...
Over the past fourteen years since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Americans of varied political persuasions have continually identified the day as a defining moment in the history of the nation, which caused a rupture in the cultural rhythm and psyche. This sensibility is...
The rate of physician dissatisfaction is steadily rising. Between 2011 and 2012, the number of physicians that would not choose a career in medicine if given the opportunity to decide again increased by 15% (Adams). This discontentment has major repercussions in the midst of the rising need for physicians: it...
Hypermediation, as described by Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin in their book Remediation, is a style of writing, recording, presenting, etc. that “makes us aware of the medium or media and (in sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious ways) reminds us of our desire for immediacy” (34). This mode of production...
The question of deep time has been widely debated in the field of American Literature, with scholar Wai Chee Dimock arguing that a deep time perspective puts the chronology of different nations against one another. However, this argument has not adequately addressed the issue of how deep time theories would...