ABSTRACT

This volume is a critical investigation into the contemporary phenomenon of the dissensus of the globe and the planet, and the new terrains of consciousness that need to be negotiated towards a possibility for transformation. It examines the possibilities of alternate, sustainable modes of being and existing in a world which requires a unified, ethical, biopolitical worldview. The book explores themes like philosophical posthumanism and planetary concerns; disruption of cultural and intellectual inequality; bodily movement through nomadic subjectivity; dystopic spatialities of game(re)play; globalization, and speculative imaginaries of the body; and theory of multiplicity. It also discusses the impact of COVID-19 on human beings, the role of the neoliberal media, the question of rights of robots and cyborgs in sci-fi movies, and representation of refugees in literature.

This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of English literature, political philosophy, cultural studies, literary cultures, post-colonial studies, critical theory, and social anthropology.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

part I|67 pages

Dissonance and Us

chapter 1|18 pages

Portal, the Front, Wound

Three Metaphors to Explore the Planetary Crisis

chapter 3|13 pages

Move Over, Mona Lisa. Move Over, Jane Eyre

Disrupting the Cultural and Intellectual Inequality Pipeline

chapter 5|11 pages

To Dream Again

Thoughts on Island Soundscapes and Environmentalism

part II|54 pages

Discord, Dystopias, and Utopias

chapter 7|12 pages

Exploring Dystopic Spatialities of Game(re)play

A Study of Papers, Please and Orwell

chapter 8|15 pages

Seeking a World of Their Own

Looking for ‘Human’ Rights in a Mechanized, Futuristic World

chapter 9|11 pages

Re-Orienting Reading

Ergodic Form of Mark Z. Danielewski's Only Revolutions

part III|56 pages

Disparity and Speculative Overtures

chapter 11|11 pages

“As Told to”

The Mediation of Refugee Voices in Contemporary Short Fiction

chapter 12|16 pages

“I Am Also a We” *

Pathic Communities and the Globalization of Affect in the Wachowskis' Sense8

chapter 13|17 pages

Re-inscribing the World

Reflections on Sense-Making and Navigating the Networks of Global Capitalism