Papers by Nora E Rossbach
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According to many theorists, the postmodern condition is one in which individuals are regularly s... more According to many theorists, the postmodern condition is one in which individuals are regularly subjected to systems of power which dictate much of their existence. David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest presents extreme examples of this case as characters experience alienation and displacement of subjectivity in a culture dominated by biopower and spectacle. While several scholars have written about the importance of subjectivity in Wallace’s novel, few have explored the nature of the totalizing system Wallace has created and the effects of that system on individual characters. The combination of powers in the novel works together to create a system in which the location of subjectivity becomes obscured. Biopower draws subjectivity to the surface by demanding representation of normative ideals of bodily health, while spectacle dictates how that subjectivity should represent itself to the world through a recursive relationship between performance and spectator. Thus, individuals are expected to be truthful and authentic, yet perform to meet the expectations of spectacle. As subjectivity and agency both must and cannot exist for characters in the novel, subjectivity becomes caught in surface performance, neither capable of being externalized through meaningful interaction with others or internalized and understood. Individuals must maintain what Jameson calls an “internal distance” from themselves. That is, they can never quite contact their own subjectivity. By examining the political system in the novel, along with the Boston AA, Enfield Tennis Academy, and individual characters experiencing alienation as a result of interaction with these groups, it becomes clear that the systems of power obscure the location of subjectivity and agency for the characters. Additionally, the fatally entertaining video cartridge, around which the plot revolves, presents a challenge to these systems of power while simultaneously reinforcing them. This makes explicit the problem of subjectivity in the novel while offering no real solution or “way out.”
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The debate over whether Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina offers a liberatory view of masquerade for wome... more The debate over whether Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina offers a liberatory view of masquerade for women or simply reinforces eighteenth-century patriarchal codes of conduct has largely dominated contemporary criticism of the work. While many critics have argued that Fantomina’s adoption of disguises allows her sexual agency and expression she would not normally be allowed as an upper-class lady, others find that her masquerade furthers her objectification. This paper will argue that Haywood’s text does offer a liberatory version of masquerade for women, but not because it allows them to explore outwardly some part of their inner identity that is more empowered. Instead, the masquerade in Fantomina offers a model for deflecting cultural definition and possession of female subjectivity by separating Fantomina’s identity from her performances. By examining elements of eighteenth-century masquerade and the anxieties surrounding it, we can read Fantomina’s adoption of disguises as transgression of a social order in which women were expected to perform within very narrow and specific roles. Perhaps more importantly, Haywood’s refusal to reveal or define Fantomina’s “true” identity in the text speaks to the inability to define femininity that is not performative. It is unclear which (if any) of the identities Fantomina performs is “authentic” or “genuine.” The revelation of falsehood in the performance of identity, coupled with her remarkable skill for deception, undermines the illusion of control over female bodies and female virtue so important to the eighteenth-century social order. Fantomina exploits misogynist constructions of female identity, uniting a range of classes and social stations available to women in one signifier. The power of this action is two-fold: on one hand, it disrupts and upends perceived distinctions between different female identities; on the other, Fantomina’s masquerade serves as a protective surface that denies the definition of and control over her own identity and the identities of other women. By reading the ambiguities and vacancies in Haywood’s text, we can reveal a subversive commentary on female performance. More importantly, the text indicates the empowerment that can come from performances that do not allow for the definition and containment of identity.
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Drafts by Nora E Rossbach
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According to many theorists, the postmodern condition is one in which individuals are regularly s... more According to many theorists, the postmodern condition is one in which individuals are regularly subjected to systems of power which dictate much of their existence. David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest presents extreme examples of this case as characters experience alienation and displacement of subjectivity in a culture dominated by biopower and spectacle. While several scholars have written about the importance of subjectivity in Wallace’s novel, few have explored the nature of the totalizing system Wallace has created and the effects of that system on individual characters. The combination of powers in the novel works together to create a system in which the location of subjectivity becomes obscured. Biopower draws subjectivity to the surface by demanding representation of normative ideals of bodily health, while spectacle dictates how that subjectivity should represent itself to the world through a recursive relationship between performance and spectator. Thus, individuals are expected to be truthful and authentic, yet perform to meet the expectations of spectacle. As subjectivity and agency both must and cannot exist for characters in the novel, subjectivity becomes caught in surface performance, neither capable of being externalized through meaningful interaction with others or internalized and understood. Individuals must maintain what Jameson calls an “internal distance” from themselves. That is, they can never quite contact their own subjectivity. By examining the political system in the novel, along with the Boston AA, Enfield Tennis Academy, and individual characters experiencing alienation as a result of interaction with these groups, it becomes clear that the systems of power obscure the location of subjectivity and agency for the characters. Additionally, the fatally entertaining video cartridge, around which the plot revolves, presents a challenge to these systems of power while simultaneously reinforcing them. This makes explicit the problem of subjectivity in the novel while offering no real solution or “way out.”
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Papers by Nora E Rossbach
Drafts by Nora E Rossbach