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Rewriting the American Soul focuses on the political implications of psychoanalytic and neurocognitive approaches to trauma in literature, their impact on cultural representations of collective trauma in the United States, and their subversive appropriation in pre- and post-9/11 fiction. Anna Thiemann connects cutting edge trauma theory with the historical context from which it emerged and shows that contemporary novels encourage us to reflect critically on the cultural meanings and political uses of trauma. In doing so, it contributes to a new generation of trauma scholarship that challenges the dominant paradigm in literary and cultural studies. Moreover, the book intervenes in current debates about the relationship between literature and neuroscience insisting that the so-called neuronovel scrutinizes scientific developments and their political ramifications rather than adopting and translating them into aesthetic practices.

This collection of critical and biographical articles covers hundreds of notable authors from the 17th century to the present day. Signed essays, 12-15 pages in length by noted scholars, provide thought-provoking insights into the lives, careers and works of American writers. Each Supplement covers approximately 20 additional authors.

Popular fiction can be more than'feel-good diversion'. Stories which are intended to entertain are uniquely suited to affect their recipients'feelings or moods, and tend to leave a more sustained impression than lectures or lists of facts. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that story-telling keeps on thriving in the 21st century, with ever new media providing ever new space for narratives. In Will Spook You For Real, Huber examines a wide range of strategies used in fiction to trigger a specific emotion in the readers: anxiety regarding the social constructs they live in, and their specific positions within these constructs. Can we trust our neighbours? Can we rely on our governments? What do big corporations have in mind? And what happens if I cannot conform to the role which has been assigned to me?

Commentators and artists attempting to represent the events of September 11, 2001, struggle to create meaning in the face of such powerful experiences. This collection of essays offers critical insights into the discourses that shape the memory of 9/11 in the narrative genres of comics, literature, film, and theatre. It examines historical, political, cultural, and personal meanings of the disaster and its aftermath through critical discussions of Marvel and New Yorker comics, American and British novels, Hollywood films, and the plays of Anne Nelson.