The Labour of Laziness in Twentieth-Century American Literature

The Labour of Laziness in Twentieth-Century American Literature explores the theme of laziness in twentieth-century American literature, situating it in the context of non-normative ethical and aesthetic traditions. It argues that major twentieth-century American writers challenge the ethos of productivity by filtering their ethical interventions through culturally stigmatised imagery of laziness. Ladyga proposes an innovative model of ethical reading based on the concept of unproductivity as an alternative to dominant post-Romantic trends in ethical criticism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 25 May 2021
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

The theme of laziness in twentieth-century American literature is explored in "The Labour of Laziness" by Ladyga. The book situates the writing of Stein, Hemingway, Barth, Barthelme, and Wallace in the context of the 20th century's non-normative ethical and aesthetic tradition, highlighting the Romantic interest in laziness. It offers an innovative model of ethical reading based on the concept of unproductivity as an alternative to the dominant post-Romantic trends in ethical criticism. The book presents the first comprehensive study of laziness as a theoretical concept, drawing on a range of religious and philosophical references points, including John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas, Theodor Adorno, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, and Catherine Malabou. The Labour of Laziness in Twentieth-Century American Literature focuses on the issue of productivity, using the figure of laziness to negotiate the relation between the ethical and the aesthetic. The book argues that major twentieth-century American writers such as Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, John Barth, Donald Barthelme, and David Foster Wallace provocatively challenge the ethos of productivity by filtering their ethical interventions through culturally stigmatised imagery of laziness. Ladyga argues that when the motif of laziness appears, it invariably reveals the underpinnings of an emerging value system at a given historical moment, while at the same time offering a glimpse into the strategies of rebelling against the status quo.

Weight: 345g
Dimension: 216 x 140 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474442930