The Politics of the State in Contemporary Literary Studies

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between literature and the state has been controversial since the time of Plato. Until recently, however, the few scholars to write on this subject considered it an underdeveloped topic in literary studies. This survey article argues that the last 10 years that have seen marked growth in literary‐critical interest in the state form of government. It explains this growth as a product of two, apparently contradictory, historical phenomena: (i) the way that government responses to political violence (especially after the 9/11 attacks) have demonstrated the awesome power of the state; and (ii) the way that, under the aegis of neoliberal economic policy, the long‐standing welfare and regulatory functions of the state have been eroded. These historical patterns have given rise to two strands of critical discourse, which the article describes as the ‘critique of sovereignty’ (i.e., the inherently coercive nature of state power) and the ‘defense of social citizenship’ (i.e., the right to welfare services). The article describes these trends and exemplifies them by reference to recent books and articles in literary theory and criticism; it also demonstrates their consequences for literary interpretation through illustrative readings of fiction by J. M. Coetzee, James Kelman, Louise Dean, and Hari Kunzru. It concludes by pointing out the contradictory nature of state power at the present time, where the state’s resort to sovereign violence is (at least in part) a response to the loss of the legitimating power of its welfare function. For this reason, the critique of sovereignty and the defense of social citizenship should be seen as distinct responses to the same historical situation.

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