ABSTRACT

Foundational theories of epistemic justice, such as Miranda Fricker's, have cited literary narratives to support their case. But why have those narratives in particular provided the resource that was needed? And is cultural production always supportive of epistemic justice? This essay collection, written by experts in literary, philosophical, and cultural studies working in conversation with each other across a range of global contexts, expands the emerging field of epistemic injustice studies.

The essays analyze the complex relationship between narrative, aesthetics, and epistemic (in)justice, referencing texts, film, and other forms of cultural production. The authors present, without seeking to synthesize, perspectives on how justice and injustice are narratively and aesthetically produced.

This volume by no means wants to say the last word on epistemic justice and creative agency. The intention is to open out a productive new field of study, at a time when understanding the workings of injustice and possibilities for justice seems an ever more urgent project.

chapter |20 pages

Introduction

Changing the story? Epistemic shifts and creative agency

part I|60 pages

On the promise and peril of stories

chapter 3|24 pages

‘The notation of a silent lament’

Hermeneutical injustice and Judith Schalansky's An Inventory of Losses

part II|67 pages

Uncovering injustice

chapter 4|23 pages

Representational epistemic injustice

Disavowing the ‘other’ Africa in the imaginative geographies of Western animation films

chapter 5|25 pages

Farmers' self-representations and agency

Protest music in the agitations against India's farm laws

part III|71 pages

Literary strategies of resistance

chapter 7|25 pages

The ludic impulse

Race narratives ‘at play’ in Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark and Zoë Wicomb's Playing in the Light

chapter 9|22 pages

Tell the truth but tell it slant

Mo Yan's aesthetics of indirection