J. G. Ballard's "Crash"

2025
ISBN: 978-3-031-73093-1
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Buch, Englisch, 89 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 253 g

Reihe: Palgrave Science Fiction and Fantasy: A New Canon

J.G. Ballard's  (1973) remains a byword for transgression in literature: declared 'too disgusting for words' upon publication. The basis for David Cronenberg's equally provocative film,  has been regarded variously as the apotheosis of New Wave science fiction, the ur-source for postmodernism, a transhumanist manifesto, and a pornographic masterpiece in the tradition of Sade and Bataille. This revisionist account, based on previously unexplored archive material, shatters the myths that have accrued around this tantalising work whilst also revealing why it continues to inspire writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers in the 21st century. The book vividly reconstructs how Ballard came to write , the cultural landscape in which it was written, the effect of its reception, and the toll it took on its author. New perspectives reveal how  reworks surrealist anthropology, evolutionary theory, and pornographic imagery in order to expose a society addicted to the abuse of power, the silencing of others, and its own environmental destruction. As Ballard later admitted, he 'must have been mad' to write .

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

March-Russell, Paul

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Filmtheorie, Filmanalyse
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Populärkultur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Prosa, Erzählung, Roman, Prosaautoren

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: Crash and Canonicity.- 2. Reading Crash: The Making of a Modern Myth.- 3. Writing Crash: Modernism/Science Fiction/New Worlds.- 4. Rogue Anthropology: Crash, Surrealism, and The Independent Group.- 5. Vicissitudes of the Body: Cyborgs and Animots.- 6. Moral Pornograopy: "The Woman of the Future".- 7. Conclusion: Crash and Petromodernity.

Über Autor(innen)

Paul March-Russell is editor of  and co-founder with Una McCormack of the feminist imprint Gold SF. His previous books include  (2009),  (2015), and with Andrew M. Butler,  (2022).