The Extreme in Contemporary Culture

States of Vulnerability

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Anthropology
Cover of the book The Extreme in Contemporary Culture by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India, Rowman & Littlefield International
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India ISBN: 9781783483679
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International Publication: February 8, 2017
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International Language: English
Author: Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
ISBN: 9781783483679
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International
Publication: February 8, 2017
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International
Language: English

This is a study of vulnerability as a dominant cultural discourse today, especially as it manifests in ‘extreme cultures’. These are cultural practices and representations of humans in risky, painful or life-threatening conditions where the limits of their humanity are tested, and producing heightened sensations of pain and pleasure. Extreme cultures in this book signal the social ontology of humans where, in specific conditions, vulnerability becomes helplessness. We see in these cultures the exploitation of the body’s immanent vulnerability in involuntary conditions of torture or deprivation, the encounter with extreme situations where the body is rendered incapacitated from performing routine functions due to structural conditions or in a voluntary embracing of risk in sporting events wherein the body pits itself against enormous forces and conditions.

The Extreme in Contemporary Culture studies vulnerability across various conditions: torture, disease, accident. It studies spaces of vulnerability and helplessness, the aesthetics and representations of vulnerability, the extreme in the everyday and, finally, the witnessing of (in)human extremes. Extreme cultures suggest shared precarity as a foundational condition of humanity. A witness culture emerges through the cultural discourse of vulnerability, the representations of the victim and/or survivor, and the accounts of witnesses. They offer, in short, an entire new way of speaking about and classifying the human.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This is a study of vulnerability as a dominant cultural discourse today, especially as it manifests in ‘extreme cultures’. These are cultural practices and representations of humans in risky, painful or life-threatening conditions where the limits of their humanity are tested, and producing heightened sensations of pain and pleasure. Extreme cultures in this book signal the social ontology of humans where, in specific conditions, vulnerability becomes helplessness. We see in these cultures the exploitation of the body’s immanent vulnerability in involuntary conditions of torture or deprivation, the encounter with extreme situations where the body is rendered incapacitated from performing routine functions due to structural conditions or in a voluntary embracing of risk in sporting events wherein the body pits itself against enormous forces and conditions.

The Extreme in Contemporary Culture studies vulnerability across various conditions: torture, disease, accident. It studies spaces of vulnerability and helplessness, the aesthetics and representations of vulnerability, the extreme in the everyday and, finally, the witnessing of (in)human extremes. Extreme cultures suggest shared precarity as a foundational condition of humanity. A witness culture emerges through the cultural discourse of vulnerability, the representations of the victim and/or survivor, and the accounts of witnesses. They offer, in short, an entire new way of speaking about and classifying the human.

More books from Rowman & Littlefield International

Cover of the book People, States and Fear by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Unsettling Food Politics by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Just Food by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Towards Corporeal Cosmopolitanism by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Spatial Anthropology by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Experimental Philosophy by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book States of Discipline by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Philosophy After Nature by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Comedy and Critical Thought by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Feminism, Digital Culture and the Politics of Transmission by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Spaces of Governmentality by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Collectivity by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book The Ethics of Climate Governance by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book Gender and Mobility by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
Cover of the book The Pregnancy [does-not-equal] Childbearing Project by Pramod K. Nayar, Professor of English at the University of Hyderabad, India
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy