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Overview
From xenophobic appropriations of Joan of Arc to Afro-futurism and cyberpunk, the "national" characters of the colonial era often seem to be dissolving into postnational and virtual subjects. In Continental Drift, Emily Apter deftly analyzes the French colonial and postcolonial experience as a case study in the erosion of belief in national destiny and the emergence of technologically mediated citizenship.
Among the many topics Apter explores are the fate of national literatures in an increasingly transnational literary climate; the volatile stakes of Albert Camus's life and reputation against the backdrop of Algerian civil strife; the use of literary and theatrical productions to "script" national character for the colonies; belly-dancing and aesthetic theory; and the impact of new media on colonial and postcolonial representation, from tourist photography to the videos of Digital Diaspora.
Continental Drift advances debates not just in postcolonial studies, but also in gender, identity, and cultural studies; ethnography; psychoanalysis; and performance studies.
Synopsis
From xenophobic appropriations of Joan of Arc to Afro-futurism and cyberpunk, the "national" characters of the colonial era often seem to be dissolving into postnational and virtual subjects. In Continental Drift, Emily Apter deftly analyzes the French colonial and postcolonial experience as a case study in the erosion of belief in national destiny and the emergence of technologically mediated citizenship.
Among the many topics Apter explores are the fate of national literatures in an increasingly transnational literary climate; the volatile stakes of Albert Camus's life and reputation against the backdrop of Algerian civil strife; the use of literary and theatrical productions to "script" national character for the colonies; belly-dancing and aesthetic theory; and the impact of new media on colonial and postcolonial representation, from tourist photography to the videos of Digital Diaspora.
Continental Drift advances debates not just in postcolonial studies, but also in gender, identity, and cultural studies; ethnography; psychoanalysis; and performance studies.
Lingua Franca - Homi K. Bhabha
Continental Drift is a surprising and scintillating exploration of a world caught between colonization and globalization, the national and the transnational. Apter's fine insights into the technologies of production and projection literature, film, music, art, cyberspace remind us of the vital links between the visual realm of social recognition and the visceral, virtual territory of psychic reality. This book leads us, with pleasure and profit, to the empire of the senses.
Editorials
Homi K. Bhabha
Continental Drift is a surprising and scintillating exploration of a world caught between colonization and globalization, the national and the transnational. Apter's fine insights into the technologies of production and projection literature, film, music, art, cyberspace remind us of the vital links between the visual realm of social recognition and the visceral, virtual territory of psychic reality. This book leads us, with pleasure and profit, to the empire of the senses.— Lingua Franca