Disappearance and Candor in Contemporary Womens Writing

(Hardback)

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Using the modernist model of Marcel Prousts character Albertine, this book argues that the trope of the moribund heroine stems from the male narrators inability see beyond his own projections of women.

Lane Glisson adopts a transnational, comparatist approach to examine the ways that authors Rachel Kushner, Elena Ferrante, Kamala Das, Liliana Heker, and Cristina Rivera Garza diverge from Prousts model to contest the states of disappearance that hinder women. Conversely, she also examines how these authors at times portray disappearance as a strategy of protection from domination or violence, a space to share ideas and create.

Disappearance and Candor in Contemporary Womens Writing examines these works in the context of each authors culture and history, drawing from the writing of philosophers, historians, artists, and activists. In doing so, the author addresses broader questions of human rights by focusing on authoritarian governments use of gendered language and the feminization of enemies to justify the disappearance of political opponents or scapegoated minorities.

Author Bio

Lane Glisson is Professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York.