I Sing the Body Politic: History As Prophecy in Contemporary American Literature

The end of George W. Bush's imperial presidency means that the wreckage of the republic's political ideals is now subject to a vigorous reassessment. In essays by five senior scholars, major works of American literature and film are analyzed in the context of a larger set of arguments about American injustice at home and across the empire. The Iraq War is the most obvious catalyst for the volume, but over the course of discussions of Joseph Heller, Philip Roth, Michael Moore, Spike Lee, and war memoirs written by soldiers who served in the Gulf, contributors reflect on contemporary American history, society, and politics. Offering a detailed and devastating critique of the political order dominated by the military-industrial-congressional complex and the conservative wing of the Republican Party, "I Sing the Body Politic" comments on an array of social inequalities and compromised political ideals, as well as artistic resistance and large-scale movements for sociopolitical change. Contributors include David Rampton (University of Ottawa), Nicholas Ruddick (University of Regina), Gordon Slethaug (University of Southern Denmark), Peter Swirski (Hong Kong University), and Michael Zeitlin (University of British Columbia).