The English Miscellany

  "Border Crossings: Foucault, Philosophy and Fiction": my contribution to Finding Philosophers in Global Fiction: Redefining the Philosopher in Multi-cultural Contexts (2024) Eds., Anway Mukhopadhyay, Saptarshi Mallick, Debashree Dattaray. Bloomsbury Publishing " What does Foucault’s philosophy tell us about fiction? What does fiction reveal about Foucault’s philosophy? Debates about Foucault’s ideas typically revolve around disputes about their philosophical veracity, legitimacy, or credibility, with widely divergent critical responses ranging from unqualified admiration to outright hostility. Noting how these reactions in critical discourse verge either on the hagiographic or the hostile, the respectful or savagely satirical, it is argued that Foucault’s writings can helpfully illuminate the taxonomic power dynamics in a range of satirical and humorous texts. Two postmodern novels by A.S. Byatt and Patricia Duncker are also discussed, examining wider idea...

    Includes my chapter in Part II. 9. Border Crossings: Foucault, Philosophy and Fiction (Ian McCormick) Description A cross-cultural study that explores and redefines what philosophy, philosophizing, and philosophers are through the lens of literature. The academic discipline of philosophy may tell us, too rigidly, what a philosopher is or should be; but fictional narration often upholds the core conundrums of humankind in which philosophy germinates. This collection of essays explores whether a study of 'philosophers' at a planetary scale, or at least on a broad cross-cultural spectrum, can decouple philosophy from its academic aspect and lend it a more inclusive domain. Contributors to this volume play with three conceptual poles, making them interact with each other and get modified through this interaction: 'fiction', 'narrative' and 'philosopher'. How do these three terms get semantically modified and broadened in scope when we speak of the figure...