The Exonerative Deterministic
Uses of Neo-naturalism in Twenty-First Century American Culture
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21341239 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A M Gibbs (University College Cork, corresponding author), Alan Gibbs (0000-0002-2337-0771) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1046-1070 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8758 • E-ISSN: 1469-5154 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021875820001681 |
| OpenAlex | W3111546092 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 12 |
This article examines the resurgence of an especially deterministic form of naturalism in contemporary American culture, which can be linked to particular attributes of neoliberalism. In particular, neoliberal power is shown to have been exercised partly through what the author terms “exonerative determinism,” a discourse whereby those in power claim to have been forced by outside circumstances into morally dubious policies. Two neo-naturalist texts – Dave Eggers's novel Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? , and the television miniseries The Night Of – are employed as case studies in order to examine the discourse of exonerative determinism. The essay concludes with a brief examination of how this discourse has been more overtly employed during the Trump administration
Determinism · Economics · Epistemology · Naturalism · Neoliberalism (international relations) · Order (exchange) · Power (physics) · Social science · Sociology · Contemporary Literature and Criticism · Modern American Literature Studies · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |