{"product_id":"contemporary-drift-9780231181938","title":"Contemporary Drift","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eContemporary Drift combines a theoretical focus on the challenge of conceptualizing the present with a historical account of contemporary literature and film.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy are some of the most predictable genres still very much around? Why does the present moment feel different and yet seem impossible to comprehend? Theodore Martin makes significant headway toward answering the second question by addressing the first, or why there now appears to be a resurgence of popular genres. His enviably simple critical apparatus offers a concise theory of our moment in cultural history. This exceptional book makes the present crisis of critical theory both intelligible and fun. -- Nancy Armstrong, Duke University\u003cbr\u003eThrough a series of brilliant readings of revived and emergent genres—westerns, noir, postapocalyptic fiction—which invent ways of thinking about temporalities directly shaped by the dynamics of advanced capitalism, Martin works against the one-sidedness of recent debates to show how form and history inform one another in contemporary fiction. Revealing how aesthetic objects can become a resource for reimagining historicism in a present rendered simultaneously more encompassing and more elusive than ever,\u003ci\u003e Contemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e is a must-read for those who study the culture of the present and the aesthetics of capitalism. -- Sianne Ngai, Stanford University\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e is a stunning study that brings expert close-reading skills and theoretical acumen to bear on the question of how works of art do not simply exist in, but actively reflect upon, the experience of being contemporary. Martin’s book moves effortlessly between general reflections on the nature of literature and film and a more specific account of the contemporary moment, and between literature and the various nonliterary frameworks with which it engages. Thoroughly researched, well argued, and engagingly written, \u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e will become a standard reference for scholars interested in the study of contemporary literature. -- Andrew Hoberek, University of Missouri\u003cbr\u003eThis exceptionally fluid and well-constructed study asks how fictional narratives address contemporaneity. Boldly contesting the literary critical taste for historicism, Martin turns toward genre analysis, arguing that each of the genres he investigates exhibits a distinctive form of temporal ‘drift’ or ‘drag.’ The resulting discussions explore both novels and films; they are beautifully written and certain to be important for any scholar interested in carefully thinking through the problems posed by genre and narrative temporality more generally. Strongly recommended. -- Caren Irr, Brandeis University\u003cbr\u003eMartin’s work here is impressive indeed, offering a very useful orientation towards the whole question of genre fiction’s relationship with literary production and scholarship. -- Eric Sandberg, City University of Hong Kong * Orbit: A Journal of American Literature *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e is a terrifically successful 'experiment in too-close reading,' not just because it offers smart, ethically grounded, and beautifully written interpretations of recent fiction and films. It is also a successful experiment because it is ongoing: it acknowledges all that we cannot yet know about our present moment, but demands that we keep trying anyway. * American Literary History *\u003cbr\u003eA strong and thoughtful contribution to criticism, to the ways we conceptualize and ponder our own times through literature and film. * Choice *\u003cbr\u003eElegantly written and clearly argued. * KULT *\u003cbr\u003eTo keep the lively, ever-growing critical genre of studies of the  contemporary from thought-paralysis, we would do well to learn from  Martin’s illuminating examination of genre’s rejuvenations, honing our  awareness of the 'tensions between novelty and continuity' not only in  the world and its art, but in our scholarly work, too. For it is,  after all, by striking a balance between the old and the new, the  conventional and the innovative, the known and the unknown that \u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e, like contemporary genre fiction, succeeds. -- Patrick Anson * ASAP\/J *\u003cbr\u003eThe  contemporary  is  a category on the  minds  of  many  literary scholars,  and  Theodore Martin’s impressive new book tells us why. . . . Those  sympathetic  to  such endeavors and invested in the epistemological powers of literary and cinematic  form will delight in \u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift\u003c\/i\u003e. Those who would grant historicism a less ringing endorsement will find Martin’s metacritical work on the making of historical concepts invaluable as well. -- Aarthi Vadde * Novel: A Forum on Fiction *\u003cbr\u003eMartin combines fierce political and historical acumen with impressively detailed formal analysis, making \u003ci\u003eContemporary Drift \u003c\/i\u003eone of the most stimulating and original books on genre to appear in recent years. * The Year's Work in English Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: The Concept of the Contemporary\u003cbr\u003e1. Decade: Period Pieces\u003cbr\u003e2. Revival: Situating Noir\u003cbr\u003e3. Waiting: Mysterious Circumstances\u003cbr\u003e4. Weather: Western Climes\u003cbr\u003e5. Survival: Work and Plague\u003cbr\u003eConclusion: How to Historicize the Present\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003cbr\u003eIndex","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400317083991,"sku":"9780231181938","price":19.8,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/contemporary-drift-9780231181938","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}