“Order and adventure”: The political in Paul Auster's 4321

Paul Auster's 4321 is on the surface organized around a multiplication of one's life story. This essay argues that the kind of textual multiplication developed in the novel can also be linked with an essential need to express the depth and breadth of the political. Looking at three forms o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOrbis litterarum Vol. 79; no. 6; pp. 485 - 499
Main Author Zhang, Meiping
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2024
Subjects
4321
community
Paul Auster
subjectivization
the political
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Summary:Paul Auster's 4321 is on the surface organized around a multiplication of one's life story. This essay argues that the kind of textual multiplication developed in the novel can also be linked with an essential need to express the depth and breadth of the political. Looking at three forms of expression—journalism, film, and poetry—it analyzes their functions in creating openings into a public realm departing from normative conceptions of collectivity and identification, which then leads to a rethinking of the common through the multiplicities of experience.
Bibliography:It has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Orbis Litterarum
I, Meiping Zhang, hereby declare that the present manuscript has been submitted only to
ISSN:0105-7510
1600-0730
DOI:10.1111/oli.12426