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book: Self-Help in the Digital Age
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Self-Help in the Digital Age

TED Talks, Speculative Fiction, and the Role of Reading
  • Loredana Filip
Languages: English, English
Published/Copyright: 2024
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About this book

Open Access

In an age where science and technology hold sway and the humanities face a crisis, this book explores the evolving role of literature. It delves into how American self-help culture shapes contemporary ideals of success, mindfulness, and happiness, with a particular focus on its influence in science communication, notably in TED talks. Moreover, it underscores the enduring relevance of literature in the digital era by analyzing speculative novels that challenge established norms, including those propagated by TED. These novels include Richard Powers’ Generosity: An Enhancement, Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story. They question the Western preference for visual perception, which perpetuates a human-centric worldview. By focusing on literary synesthesia in the readings, this book emphasizes sensory experiences and human-nonhuman interactions. It adopts the concept of research as assemblage and uses a diverse range of theories and approaches, while it foregrounds critical posthumanism and new materialism. Ultimately, it advocates for a less anthropocentric approach to reading and presents literature as a "transdisciplinary life science" capable of fostering a "kinship of posthumanity."

Author / Editor information

Loredana Filip, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München.


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I

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VII

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I Happy Confessions: Context, Theory, Approach

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II Self-Improvement: Finding Success in a Digital Age

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III Mindfulness and Self-Vigilance in the Anthropocene

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IV Self-Transcendence in the Age of Empathy

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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 23, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9783111389929
Paperback published on:
October 9, 2024
Paperback ISBN:
9783111388267
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
8
Main content:
317
Coloured Illustrations:
8
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