Eric Ambler’s Novels
Critiquing Modernity
Seiten
2019
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-1418-6 (ISBN)
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-1418-6 (ISBN)
Bridging what is often perceived as a divide between the thriller and literary fiction, Eric Ambler's eighteen novels undertake a wide-ranging critique of modernity. Among the twentieth-century developments he examines are totalitarianism, corporatism, espionage, social Darwinism, terrorism, political autocracy, and foreign intervention.
Eric Ambler's first six novels released between 1936 and 1940 quickly established his reputation as a master craftsman of intrigue and espionage narratives. Far less often discussed are the twelve Cold War novels he published, after an eleven-year hiatus as a screenwriter, between 1951 and 1981. This study argues that his entire corpus manifests late modernism's impulse toward a broadly social, political, and cultural critique of the times. Ambler's fiction from the mid-1950s onward is also remarkable for its ludic turn as he assesses the self-deceptions of an increasingly bureaucratized and media-focused world blind to its own follies. In these later works can be seen elements of what has come to be known as postmodernism, though in his commitment to chronicling the juggernaut of modernity he remains a uniquely independent witness of what is now being called the long twentieth century.
Eric Ambler's first six novels released between 1936 and 1940 quickly established his reputation as a master craftsman of intrigue and espionage narratives. Far less often discussed are the twelve Cold War novels he published, after an eleven-year hiatus as a screenwriter, between 1951 and 1981. This study argues that his entire corpus manifests late modernism's impulse toward a broadly social, political, and cultural critique of the times. Ambler's fiction from the mid-1950s onward is also remarkable for its ludic turn as he assesses the self-deceptions of an increasingly bureaucratized and media-focused world blind to its own follies. In these later works can be seen elements of what has come to be known as postmodernism, though in his commitment to chronicling the juggernaut of modernity he remains a uniquely independent witness of what is now being called the long twentieth century.
Robert Lance Snyder is professor emeritus of English at the University of West Georgia.
Introduction
1On the Eve of Cataclysm
2Fascismo, Espionage, and War’s Contagion
3Postwar Theatres of Deception
4Ambler’s Ludic Turn
5International Connivance and Disinformation
6Final Soundings
Conclusion
| Erscheinungsdatum | 10.05.2021 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | Lanham, MD |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 161 x 237 mm |
| Gewicht | 454 g |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-7936-1418-0 / 1793614180 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-7936-1418-6 / 9781793614186 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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