The Eugenetic Imagination

Eugenics and Genetics in Early 21st-Century Anglo-American Fiction

von Melanie Schrage-Lang

288 Seiten, Hardcover

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

This book addresses a research gap in the study of eugenics in fictional literature: the analysis of the nexus of eugenics and genetics in 21st-century novels, detached from their authors’ ideological beliefs. It is based on an understanding of literature as an interdiscourse in Jürgen Link‘s sense. The study employs categories developed by Rabinow and Rose in the context of Foucault‘s concept of “biopower.” It thereby demonstrates that, though officially fallen from grace in light of the Nazi atrocities committed in the name of racial hygiene, eugenic ideas remain surprisingly resilient in the sciences as well as in fiction. Thus, the nexus between eugenics and genetics continues to serve as an important force in the structuring of scientific and contemporary popular (inter-)discourses.

• Reihe: MeLiS. Medien – Literaturen – Sprachen in Anglistik/Amerikanistik, Germanistik und Romanistik
• ISBN: 9783631876978
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 22.12.2022
• Genre: Sprachwissenschaft, Literaturwissenschaft/Englische Sprachwissenschaft, Literaturwissenschaft
• Verlag: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften