Apocalypse and Post-Politics: The Romance of the End

by Mary Manjikian

Mary Manjikian's Apocalypse and The Romance of the End advances the thesis that only those who feel the most safe and whose lives are least precarious can engage in the sort of storytelling which envisions erasing civilization. Apocalypse-themed novels of contemporary America and historic Britain, then, are affirmed as a creative luxury of development. Manjikian examines a number of such novels using the lens of an international relations theorist, identifying faults in the logic of the American exceptionalists who would argue that America is uniquely endowed with resources and a place in the world, both of which make continued growth and expansion simultaneously desirable and inevitable. In contrast, Manjikian shows, apocalyptic narratives explore America as merely one nation among many, whose trajectory is neither unique nor destined for success. Apocalypse and Post-Politics ultimately argues that the apocalyptic narrative provides both a counterpoint and a corrective to the narrative of exceptionalism.Apocalyptic concepts provide a way for contemporary Americans to view the international system from from the perspective of those who are powerless rather than those who are powerful. This sort of theorizing is also useful for intelligence analysts who question how it all will end, and whether America's decline can be predicted or prevented.

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Á · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have to really be interested in the end of all things to get to the end of this book. The first section of the book was dull. Though it intended to purposely frame the apocalypse genre within an International Relations context, I realized I could care less about that framework!

Give me apocalypse or give me...um...that isn't going anywhere....

The second section was the interesting bit, wherein a selected group of books were examined as exemplifying elements of the apocalypse genre. I gave this three stars for a couple of reasons. 1. No one else has read it and I hate to give it a low number (it's worth reading). 2. I deserve those stars - big gold ones - for reading this book.

Now off to some Zinn and Dirty Wars, those are uplifting positive tomes I'm sure.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author lost all credibility when she credited Samuel Butler with coining the term "utopia" in 1872. Also, the sheer amount of typos and misspellings made me angry.