Numb Networks.

In this response to “Whitman’s Sympathies” by Jane Bennett, I show how Whitman broke with Romantic poetic convention by representing sympathy as an involuntary, embodied affect—as, in Bennett’s terms, “(onto)Sympathy.” However, as I argue, the ontology of Whitmanian sympathy undermines the notion of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Political Research Quarterly Vol. 69; no. 3; pp. 626 - 633
Autor principal: Ellis, Cristin
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Sep2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        au: Ellis, Cristin
        affil: University of Mississippi, Oxford, USA
      su:
        Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
        Bennett, Jane
        Sympathy
        Identity (Psychology)
        Ontology
        Posthumanism
      sug:
        subj:
          Sympathy
          Identity (Psychology)
          Ontology
          Posthumanism
          Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
          Bennett, Jane
      keyword:
        identity
        new materialism
        posthumanism
        race
        sympathy
        identity
        new materialism
        posthumanism
        race
        sympathy
      ab: In this response to “Whitman’s Sympathies” by Jane Bennett, I show how Whitman broke with Romantic poetic convention by representing sympathy as an involuntary, embodied affect—as, in Bennett’s terms, “(onto)Sympathy.” However, as I argue, the ontology of Whitmanian sympathy undermines the notion of individual identity—of autonomy, singularity, and difference—upon which sympathy’s traditionally inclusive, pluralist politics depends. Instead of persons and interpersonal ethical relations, Whitmanian sympathy conjures a networked and processual ontology in which discrete entities cannot finally be distinguished. Thus, I argue that Bennett’s notion of “(onto)Sympathy” is incommensurable with the syntax of individual identity and (race, sex, gender, class, species) difference. But even if this makes it incompatible with a politics of recognition, I argue that this networked ontology may nevertheless be strategically better adapted to address the political challenges of ecological crisis.
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    language: English
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