Contested meaning(s): freedom as responsibility in three nonfiction texts.
Date
2011-08-29
Authors
Barrett, David Michael
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Abstract
This thesis interrogates the social/political stakes in three nonfiction narratives of life and death: Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, Peter Gzowski's The Sacrament and John and Jean Silverwood's Black Wave. An analysis of Nietzsche's concept of "freedom as responsibility," as developed by contemporary theorists of freedom and the body, especially Wendy Brown and Judith Butler, provides the ground for this theoretical examination. Additionally, Fred Alford's consideration of "freedom with" and Laurence Gonzales's interrogation of the conditions of survival help delimit this site of contest. Each of the texts is critiqued in terms of its engagement with freedom as a practice of responsibility grounded in recognition of mutual vulnerability and enacted through a contest for meaning.
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Keywords
Freedom, Responsibility, Nonfiction, Survival, Vulnerability, Freedom With