Ethics of Literary Forms in Contemporary American Literature

This work links ethics and the formal arrangement of literary texts. It shows that specific formal techniques and devices and the overall form of literary texts always have an ethical dimension and beg certain ethical questions. Covering the three main genres of narrative, drama and poetry, the discussion addresses aspects of syntax, line breaks, mise-en-scene and narrative situation as well as the table of contents, list of characters and chapter structure in six texts by contemporary American authors (Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, John Ashbery and Jorie Graham). The author currently teaches American Literature and Culture at the English Seminar/North American Studies Section of the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg.

Rüdiger Heinze ist Juniorprofessor f³r Amerikanistik am Englischen Seminar der TU Braunschweig.