9780691069395 - Bitter Carnival: Ressentiment and the Abject Hero by Bernstein, Michael André (9 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Wasserschaden / Verschmutzung; Leichte Risse; Gebogener Buchrücken; Farbveränderung durch Alter/Sonne. "You people put importance on your lives. Well, my life has never been important to anyone. I haven't got any guilt about anything," bragged mass-murderer Charles Manson. His chilling accusation highlights a societal contradiction: while we are shocked by real murderers, we are captivated when similar sentiments are expressed by fictional rebels or monsters. In Bitter Carnival, Michael Andr Bernstein delves into this contradiction, introducing the concept of the Abject Hero. This figure exists at the intersection of contestation and conformity, embodying a blend of the satanic and the servile. Bernstein argues that we romanticize the Abject Hero because he reflects a convention deeply embedded in our mythology, appealing in both mass culture and high art. His analysis spans classical Latin satire, innovative interpretations of Diderot, Dostoevsky, and Cline, and culminates in Manson's courtroom testimony. Bitter Carnival offers a revisionist perspective on the "Saturnalian dialogue" between various societal roles, challenging the perceived regenerative power of the carnivalesque and critiquing contemporary utopian radicalism. The clarity of Bernstein's arguments and literary style compel readers to confront significant dilemmas in literary studies, ethics, cultural history, and critical theory today.

Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

See photos for the summary and table of contents. /// Cloth binding with dust jacket; hardback, X+243 pp., 8° (16 x 24 cm), dust jacket slightly worn, two corners slightly bumped, rare pencil marking throughout book, condition: very good Book Language/s: English.

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good.

hardcover. Condition: Very Good in Dustjacket. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Princeton. 1992. Princeton University Press. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0691069395. 243 pages. hardcover. Jacket illustration: Gerard Lapagesse, Un moment hors du temps. Inscribed by the Author. keywords: Literary Criticism. DESCRIPTION - 'I do not think like you people. You people put importance on your lives. Well, my life has never been important to anyone. I haven't got any guilt about anything,' bragged the mass-murderer Charles Manson. 'These children that come at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. You say there are just a few? There are many, many more. They are running in the streets-and they are coming right at you!' When a real murderer accuses the society he has brutalized, we are shocked, but we are thrilled by the same accusations when they are mouthed by a fictional rebel, outlaw, or monster. In BITTER CARNIVAL, Michael Andre Bernstein explores this contradiction and defines a new figure: the Abject Hero. More complex and subversive than the defiant nonconformist or the 'mad' artist working at the 'cutting edge' of the unthinkable, the Abject Hero stands at the junction of contestation and conformity: he speaks both for and against the powers he fantasizes as excluding him. Although he situates himself outside all normative values, his existence is possible only inside the same body of discourse that he rejects. Condemned to dialogue, his consciousness is an echo chamber of incompatible desires and prohibitions. Rather than functioning as a glamorous embodiment of the radically Other, he occupies the logically impossible space created by the intersection of the satanic and the servile. Bernstein shows that we heroicize the Abject Hero because he represents a convention that has become a staple of our common mythology, as seductive in mass culture as it is in high art. Moving from an examination of classical Latin satire; through radically new analyses of Diderot, Dostoevsky, and CEline; and culminating in the courtroom testimony of Charles Manson, BITTER CARNIVAL offers a revisionist rereading of the entire tradition of the 'Saturnalian dialogue' between masters and slaves, monarchs and fools, philosophers and madmen, citizens and malcontents. What emerges is an extraordinarily wide-ranging book, both in its actual critical scope and its broader intellectual implications. Bernstein's new understanding of the cognate terms abjection and ressentiment contests the supposedly regenerative power of the carnivalesque and challenges the pieties of utopian radicalism fashionable in contemporary academic thinking. At its center, this book questions the very foundation of our emotional identifications as readers, exposing the tensions between our theoretical judgments and the prosaic decisions on which our everyday existence depends. In BITTER CARNIVAL, the sweep and clarity of the author's argument and the lucidity of his prose compel us to confront a powerful dilemma that engages some of the most central issues in literary studies, ethics, cultural history, and critical theory today. Michael Andre Bernstein, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of THE TALE OF THE TRIBE: EZRA POUND AND THE MODERN VERSE EPIC (Princeton) and PRIMA DELLA RIVOLUZIONE, a volume of poetry (National Poetry Foundation/University of Maine at Orono). inventory #34366. Inscribed by the Author.

Please note: below is a general description of how we classify our condition types. If you would like a closer look or have any specific questions, please feel free to send us a message, and we will gladly check it for you. Condition descriptions: UsedlikeNew: Barely any signs of use, almost like new. UsedGood: May show some light signs of use, such as slight discoloration or a name written on the front endpaper, but generally no markings or notes in the text. UsedAcceptable: Book in acceptable condition. May show signs of use, such as some discoloration, reading creases in the spine, underlining, notes, slight dirt on edges, dog-eared pages, or a bent spine. New: Book is new. Z 86-7 200218 EA.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. 243 pages inc index, navy blue cloth has a little dust line to top edge under the wrapper, a small neat inscription also just seen under front flap "John J Gibson" who was himself an art lecturer at the Courtauld Institute in London in the 1980's-90's., he has naughtily added 4 small neat margin observation on the text notes, which add insight rather than being detrimental. (the sellers own opinion). Octavo 1992. Near fine to handle and view. Marred by a tiny lack of foresight. *A critical examination of modern literature and its "abject hero". Monsters and malcontents, Manson and mayhem. It examines & questions our emotional identifications as readers.

hardcover. Condition: As New.