The Death-Bound Subject

by Abdul R. JanMohamed

Dense, highly informative, a great starting point for analysis in how we are formed and unformed by culture and psycho-political and socio-historical forces...

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Alfresco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book that has potential to expound on Wrights legacy on violence and death, however the book falls short with its over reliance of psychoanalytic theory EVERY chapter. The thesis of the book isnt original but with the analytic tools the author proposed to use he falls short in lieu he attempts to straight jacket Wrights work to fit his thesis with selective passages. Nevertheless another read to continue to rethink Richard Wrights relevance in our times.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable but complex analysis of Wright's fiction that suggests his characters' subjectivities are centrally defined by death and the threat of racial violence. JanMohamed brings together Hegel, Heidegger, Lacan, and Marxist theory in a really interesting way. I read big swathes and am using his theories of the death contract and the symbolic death for a paper on Larsen's Passing.

[Helah]

Very dense and analytical, it is requiring much more time than I expected, which is great because it allows for more inquiry and absorption....great read! great grounding in critical theory and literary analysis.