Retaking The Universe: William S. Burroughs in the Age of Globalization - Hardcover

Schneiderman, Davis; Walsh, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745320821 ISBN 13: 9780745320823

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2004

Synopsis

William S. Burroughs is one of America's most influential and widely studied writers. A leading member of the Beat movement, his books and essays continue to attract a wide readership. His films, paintings, recordings and other projects that grew out of his literary production, together with his iconic persona as a counter-culture (anti-)hero, mean his work has become a broad cultural phenomenon. This collection of essays by leading scholars offers an interdisciplinary consideration of Burroughs's art. It links his lived experience to his many major prose works written from 1953 on, as well his sound, cinema and media projects. Moving beyond the merely literary, the contributors argue for the continuing social and political relevance of Burroughs's work for the emerging global order. Themes include: Burroughs and contemporary theory; debates on 'reality'; violence; magic and mysticism ; cybernetic cultures; language and technology; control and transformation; transgression and addiction; the limits of prose; image politics and the avant-garde.

About this title

About the Author

Davis Schneiderman is Chair of the American Studies Program and an Assistant Professor of English at Lake Forest College, Illinois. He is currently engaged in research on Burroughs's connections to literary plagiarism and issues of digital copyright.Philip Walsh is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at the State University of New York, College at Cortland. He is author of Skepticism, Modernity and Critical Theory.

Review

'These essays testify to the continuing relevance of Burroughs' words and project in the twenty-first century' -- Steven Shaviro, author of Doom Patrols and Connected 'El Hombre Invisible goes global. Thanks to Schneiderman and Walsh's Retaking the Universe, Burroughs finally manages to storm the theory studio' -- Sylvere Lotringer, Editor of Semiotext(e) and Burroughs Live. 'The first serious and well conceived study of Burroughs' global influence' -- Victor Bockris 'Schneiderman's and Walsh's new collection should mark the beginning of a new and wider view of the contemporary implications of Burroughs's thought. This book is retaking the universe of Burroughsian interpretation - starting now' -- James Grauerholz

Edition details

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0745320821
• ISBN 13: 9780745320823
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328