http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Literary Cynics reconsiders the meaqnings of words like cynicism and cosmopolitanism for Jorge Luis Borges, Samuel Beckett and J.M. Coetzee, testing the limits of their merely cynical cosmopolitanism. Arthur Rose takes as his starting point three moments of aesthetic crisis in the careers of these literary cynics, Borges's parables of the 1950s, Beckett's plays of the 1980s and Coetzee's pedagogic novels of the 2000s. In their transition to a 'late style,' Rose demonstrates how these writers develop rhetorical strategies for coping with fame, cosmopolitanism and aesthetic form that become useful when returning to the canonical texts of their respective 'high' periods. In addition to these 'late' works, Literary Cynics offers a rigorous rapprochement to classic, lesser known and archival texts by the three writers, from Coetzee's Disgrace to Beckett's letters.
Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations Introduction -- Paradox One: Money Problems in Borges, Beckett and Coetzee -- 1. Defacing the Currency of Cosmopolitan Fame -- i. Fame -- ii. Cosmopolitanism -- iii. Cynical Cosmopolitans -- Paradox Two: Coetzee, Borges and Negotiated Truth -- 2. Borges's Parables -- i. Biographical Performance -- ii. Writerly Parables -- iii. Historical Parables -- Paradox Three: Borges, Beckett and the Sincerity Paradox -- 3. Beckett's Antinomical Theatre -- i. Ohio Impromptu -- ii. Catastrophe -- iii. What Where -- Paradox Four: Locating Beckett in Patagonia and South Africa -- 4. Coetzee's Enantiosemiotic Lessons -- i. The Diatribe -- ii. The Essay -- Paradox Five: Creaturely Dog Men -- Conclusion: On Mere Life -- Bibliography -- Index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.