Simulacra And Nothingness In Bret Easton Ellis Less Than Zero

Author : Katharina Wagner
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 19 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2020-02-05
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9783346108210

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Simulacra and Nothingness in Bret Easton Ellis' "Less Than Zero" by Katharina Wagner Pdf

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar I), course: American Postmodern Literature, language: English, abstract: With his debut novel Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis set a milestone for a generation, who needed a voice. First published in 1985 when he was 21 and still at Bennington College, Ellis is now considered as the 'celebrity author' of the postmodern era, using the minimalist style for which the novel became famous. Writers of postmodern fiction, also called 'Blank Fiction', elegantly use a minimalist plot with flat characters in a simple style and as validated member of the 'Brat Pack', Ellis combines urban life, violence, drugs and consumerism. In the novel we follow Clay, the 18-year-old protagonist and student at Camden College in New Hampshire, coming back to Los Angeles for Christmas break. Experiencing several parties, concerts, affairs and drugs with his old friends, Clay explores the apathy, boredom and alienation from his old life. Although criticized for Ellis's straight nihilism, integrating his own celebrity persona into his art and creating a universe of immature characters who seem to grow older but without any growing effect, it is questionable, if Less Than Zero is only just that – a world inhabited by rich and shallow characters without any purpose. With the help of Jean Baudrillard's simulation theory and Sartre's theory of Being and Nothingness, which will be introduced before analyzing the novel, this paper will address Clays world of simulacra and Nothingness and argue for this being the purpose of the novel; creating a meaningless world. Through conversations and media, a Clay becomes visible, who seeks for more beyond the surface and shallowness and although the novel does not seem to follow a red thread, it suggests that Ellis as an author of 'blank fiction' is well aware of what he is doing with Less Than Zero. How can a novel be a how-to-torture, but also a book of serious ambition? (Baelo-Allué 2011) This paper will show that an 'in-between' is possible; an 'in-between' between “pornographic gore” and “serious postmodern literature” - and maybe the two phrases do not contradict each other so much as assumed.

Author : Bret Easton Ellis
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2010-06-09
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780307756466

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Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis Pdf

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The timeless classic from the acclaimed author of American Psycho about the lost generation of 1980s Los Angeles who experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. • The basis for the cult-classic film "Possesses an unnerving air of documentary reality." —The New York Times They live in a world shaped by casual nihilism, passivity, and too much money in a place devoid of feeling or hope. When Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern college, he re-enters a landscape of limitless privilege and absolute moral entropy, where everyone drives Porsches, dines at Spago, and snorts mountains of cocaine. He tries to renew feelings for his girlfriend, Blair, and for his best friend from high school, Julian, who is careering into hustling and heroin. Clay's holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs and also into the seamy world of L.A. after dark. Look for Bret Easton Ellis’s new novel, The Shards!

Author : Rocío Davis
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2013-01-04
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781136172618

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The Transnationalism of American Culture by Rocío Davis Pdf

This book studies the transnational nature of American cultural production, specifically literature, film, and music, examining how these serve as ways of perceiving the United States and American culture. The volume’s engagement with the reality of transnationalism focuses on material examples that allow for an exploration of concrete manifestations of this phenomenon and trace its development within and outside the United States. Contributors consider the ways in which artifacts or manifestations of American culture have traveled and what has happened to the texts in the process, inviting readers to examine the nature of the transnational turn by highlighting the cultural products that represent and produce it. Emphasis on literature, film, and music allows for nuanced perspectives on the way a global phenomenon is enacted in American texts within the U.S, also illustrating the commodification of American culture as these texts travel. The volume therefore serves as a coherent examination of the critical and creative repercussions of transnationalism, and, by juxtaposing a discussion of creativity with critical paradigms, unveils how transnationalism has become one of the constitutive modes of cultural production in the 21st century.

Author : George Robertson
Publisher : Psychology Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Art
ISBN : 0415139880

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The Block Reader in Visual Culture by George Robertson Pdf

Brings together classic writings by leading cultural theorists which were first published in the journal and are now unavailable.

Author : Chris Jenks
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2002-11-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781134909346

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Cultural Reproduction by Chris Jenks Pdf

The idea of cultural reproduction was first developed by Bourdieu (1973) who sees the function of the education system as being to reproduce the culture of the dominant classes, thus helping to ensure their continued dominance. Through his concepts of cultural capital' and habitus' Bourdieu's influence spread into other areas of socialization and high culture. However, despite the complex of influences that contribute to Bourdieu's method, sociologists of culture and students of cultural studies seem to have picked up on the negative and critical elements in the work. In particular, they developed the metaphor of reproduction as copy or imitation rather than reproduction as regeneration and synthesis. As a consequence cultural reproduction' has become part of the orthodoxy of studies in the theory of ideology and neo-Marxisms. While still addressing this well established theme of ideology and structural determinacy in cultural reproduction theory, this collection of original essays seeks also to explore other possibilities, in terms of ethnomethodology, Durkheimianism, structuralism and post-structuralism. Many of the arguments put forward also confront the most contemporary challenges presented by postmodernism. The papers address an unusually wide spectrum of cultural formations including gender roles, fine art, film, journalism, education, consumerism, style, language and sociology itself. The introduction discusses the origin and development of the concept of cultural reproduction and shows the variety of analytic possibilities within several traditions of social theorizing, all later expanded in the body of the text. Most of the contributors are academics working in the area of sociology of communication studies. All of them have taught in and have continuing research interests in the sociology of culture and cultural studies.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 86 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1987
Category : Arts
ISBN : UCSD:31822017045717

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Block by Anonim Pdf

Author : Patrick O'Donnell,Stephen J. Burn,Lesley Larkin
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 1607 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2022-03-01
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781119431718

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The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction, 2 Volumes by Patrick O'Donnell,Stephen J. Burn,Lesley Larkin Pdf

Fresh perspectives and eye-opening discussions of contemporary American fiction In The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020, a team of distinguished scholars delivers a focused and in-depth collection of essays on some of the most significant and influential authors and literary subjects of the last four decades. Cutting-edge entries from established and new voices discuss subjects as varied as multiculturalism, contemporary regionalisms, realism after poststructuralism, indigenous narratives, globalism, and big data in the context of American fiction from the last 40 years. The Encyclopedia provides an overview of American fiction at the turn of the millennium as well as a vision of what may come. It perfectly balances analysis, summary, and critique for an illuminating treatment of the subject matter. This collection also includes: An exciting mix of established and emerging contributors from around the world discussing central and cutting-edge topics in American fiction studies Focused, critical explorations of authors and subjects of critical importance to American fiction Topics that reflect the energies and tendencies of contemporary American fiction from the forty years between 1980 and 2020 The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction: 1980-2020 is a must-have resource for undergraduate and graduate students of American literature, English, creative writing, and fiction studies. It will also earn a place in the libraries of scholars seeking an authoritative array of contributions on both established and newer authors of contemporary fiction.

Author : Alex Kazemi
Publisher : Permuted Press
Page : 229 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2020-02-18
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781682618813

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Pop Magick by Alex Kazemi Pdf

Talent is great if you have it and luck is fine if you can find it, but Alex Kazemi learned it would take something more to make dreams come true. It would take magick—a real, spiritual force that anyone can learn to harness. You have the power within you. “Alex Kazemi is a boy wonder.” —Shirley Manson “My favorite millennial provocateur.” —Bret Easton Ellis Magick isn't a treasured secret for a privileged few. It's meant for everyone. It’s meant for you. Are you ready to bend reality? Do you want to get out of The Simulation? Do you want to unlock your creative potential? Do you hunger for a more balanced, awakened life? Magick offers this and more. Follow Alex on his journey from troubled outsider to an enlightened young man as he shares the secret power of pop magick. “Alex Kazemi has his finger on the pulse of magick and all its wonders." —George Noory, Host of Coast to Coast AM “I want to heal. This book should help me along my treacherous path to better understanding myself.” —Bella Thorne “If Alex is a magician, then he would disappear.” —Marilyn Manson “Alex’s creativity is off the charts.” —The AstroTwins, Ophira & Tali Edut (Astrostyle.com)

Author : Bret Easton Ellis
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2005-08-16
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780307264305

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Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis Pdf

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero comes a chilling tale that combines reality, memoir, and fantasy to create a fascinating portrait of this most controversial writer but also a deeply moving novel about love and loss, parents and children, and ultimately forgiveness. “John Cheever writes The Shining.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly Bret Ellis, the narrator of Lunar Park, is the bestselling writer whose first novel Less Than Zero catapulted him to international stardom while he was still in college. In the years that followed he found himself adrift in a world of wealth, drugs, and fame, as well as dealing with the unexpected death of his abusive father. After a decade of decadence a chance for salvation arrives; the chance to reconnect with an actress he was once involved with, and their son. But almost immediately his new life is threatened by a freak sequence of events and a bizarre series of murders that all seem to connect to Ellis’s past. His attempts to save his new world from his own demons makes Lunar Park Ellis’s most suspenseful novel. Look for Bret Easton Ellis’s new novel, The Shards!

Author : Alain-Philippe Durand,Naomi Mandel
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2006-06-08
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781441162137

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Novels of the Contemporary Extreme by Alain-Philippe Durand,Naomi Mandel Pdf

This book investigates a new form of fiction that is currently emerging in contemporary literature across the globe. 'Novels of the contemporary extreme' - from North and South America, from Europe, and the Middle East - are set in a world both similar to and different from our own: a hyper real, often apocalyptic world progressively invaded by popular culture, permeated with technology and dominated by destruction. While their writing is commonly classified as 'hip' or 'underground' literature, authors of contemporary extreme novels have often been the center of public controversy and scandal; they, and their work, become international bestsellers. This collection of essays identifies and describes this international phenomenon, investigating the appeal of these novels' styles and themes, the reasons behind their success, and the fierce debates they provoked.

Author : Don DeLillo
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 1999-06-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781440674471

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White Noise by Don DeLillo Pdf

A brilliant satire of mass culture and the numbing effects of technology, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, a teacher of Hitler studies at a liberal arts college in Middle America. Jack and his fourth wife, Babette, bound by their love, fear of death, and four ultramodern offspring, navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. Then a lethal black chemical cloud, unleashed by an industrial accident, floats over there lives, an "airborne toxic event" that is a more urgent and visible version of the white noise engulfing the Gladneys—the radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, and TV murmurings that constitute the music of American magic and dread.

Author : Angela Woods
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2011-08-25
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780199583959

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The Sublime Object of Psychiatry by Angela Woods Pdf

Schizophrenia has been one of psychiatry's most contested diagnostic categories. The Sublime object of Psychiatry studies representations of schizophrenia across a wide range of disciplines and discourses: biological and phenomenological psychiatry, psychoanalysis, critical psychology, antipsychiatry, and postmodern philosophy.

Author : Anja Schiel
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 117 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2008-04
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9783638936422

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Abandon All Hope - Consumerism and Loss of Identity in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho As an Example of Blank Fiction by Anja Schiel Pdf

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2005 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,5, University of Hamburg (Sprach-, Literatur- und Medienwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho has been labeled many things from "Brat Pack Fiction" to "Generation X" to "Minimal Realism". While the classification of the novel might be difficult and it has often been misunderstood for its extremely violent scenes, what is clear to the attentive reader is its critique of consumer culture Critics have acknowledged an emergence of a large number of writings dealing with this topic in contemporary American literature in the recent past. These novels focus on the relationship of American youth with consumer culture with a seemingly non-elaborate content and style. Attempts of explaining this kind of writing, which has also been called "fiction of insurgency", "new narrative", "downtown writing" and "punk fiction", range from millennial angst to the classification of this literary movement as part of the postmodern culture. What seems clear is that these narrations are closely related to the society they have been created in. The way these texts incorporate products of their time as a constant accompanying element places them very clearly in a specific time period. The apparent non-existence of complexity concerning the style, which at times reminds the reader of a movie script or a sequence of an MTV video, has, in the case of American Psycho, caused many critics to classify the novel as boring and deny the author the status of an artist. Exactly this seeming meaninglessness of these novels argues in favor of a term introduced by critics James Annesley and Elizabeth Young: Blank fiction, or Blank Generation Fiction. The term Blank fiction seems to capture perfectly the emptiness created by consumer culture that has found its way into these narratives not simply in its context but also by means of its language, incorporating consumer goods i

Author : James Ochieng,Slava Sobota
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2020-04-24
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 3346158772

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Exclusive Breast Feeding in Rusinga West Location, Kenya. Knowledge, Attitude and Challenges Experienced by Mothers with Infants Less Than 6 Months by James Ochieng,Slava Sobota Pdf

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Health - Health system, grade: A, course: Community Health and Development, language: English, abstract: This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and identifying the challenges experienced during the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers of infants less than 6 months in Rusinga West Location. This study had three specific objectives namely, to assess mother`s knowledge on exclusive breast feeding, to determine mother`s attitude towards exclusive breast feeding and to identify challenges faced by mother`s during exclusive breast feeding practice. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was utilized. The study targeted mothers with infants less than six months of age in the location. Data was collected by administering structured questionnaires with closed and open ended questions to the targeted respondents. Data was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented using tables and graph. A total of 84 respondents participated and the study findings showed that majority of the respondents 98%, (n=82) had heard of exclusive breast feeding and knew what it mean. Half of the respondents, 50%, (n=42) said they had experience difficulties while breast feeding and half of the respondents 50%, (n=42) also said they have not experienced any difficulty while breast feeding. It is worth noting that majority of the respondents still face challenges such as baby refusal to breast feed, inadequate breast milk, breast tenderness, pain during breast feed and sore nipples.

Author : Tao Lin
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2013-06-04
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780307950185

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Taipei by Tao Lin Pdf

The basis for the movie High Resolution From one of this generation's most talked about and enigmatic writers comes a deeply personal, powerful, and moving novel about family, relationships, accelerating drug use, and the lingering possibility of death. Taipei by Tao Lin is an ode--or lament--to the way we live now. Following Paul from New York, where he comically navigates Manhattan's art and literary scenes, to Taipei, Taiwan, where he confronts his family's roots, we see one relationship fail, while another is born on the internet and blooms into an unexpected wedding in Las Vegas. Along the way—whether on all night drives up the East Coast, shoplifting excursions in the South, book readings on the West Coast, or ill advised grocery runs in Ohio—movies are made with laptop cameras, massive amounts of drugs are ingested, and two young lovers come to learn what it means to share themselves completely. The result is a suspenseful meditation on memory, love, and what it means to be alive, young, and on the fringe in America, or anywhere else for that matter.