Overview

A poetic meditation on the challenges and pleasures of contemporary speculative fiction Winner of the Elizabeth Agree Prize in American Literary Studies Dear Incomprehension: On American Speculative Fiction is a thought-provoking exploration of the fascinating field of contemporary speculative fiction, a genre that transcends boundaries and encompasses science fiction, fabulist tales, modern fairy tales, and experimental narratives that challenge the very essence of storytelling and reading. Written as a philosophical essay that mirrors the unorthodox nature of the texts it analyzes, Dear Incomprehension examines American works that defy traditional narrative devices such as plot, character, logic, and even legibility. Drawing on a number of philosophical theories, among them object-oriented ontology and speculative realism, Vanderhaeghe argues that these unconventional works resist the standard tools of criticism, demanding instead a novel perspective and approach. An in-depth resource for scholars and students of contemporary literature, philosophy, and digital literary studies, Dear Incomprehension offers a fresh framework for analyzing experimental fiction and alternative modes of meaning-making. It is a must-read for those seeking to grasp the complexities and nuances of American experimental and speculative fiction.

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9780817321871

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Reviews

"""Dear Incomprehension is our new guide to critical failure. It is a thrilling experience of the nexus between contemporary American speculative fiction and poststructuralism's realist and materialist aftereffects. Vanderhaeghe's readings are smart, lively, perceptive, and often surprising. They turn the contradictions at the core of literary meaning, referential realism, and critical authority around in circles. The astonishing afflictions of speculation shine forth in a new light."" --Zachary Tavlin is Assistant Professor, Adj. in Liberal Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of Glancing Visions: Surface and Depth in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. ""Dear Incomprehension is well-written, engaging, and provides a compelling (anti)framework for reading contemporary experimental fiction. It unfolds a delightfully performative provocation of the reading and speculative practices it proposes we attend more closely to, opening up timely inquiries into the objects of literary studies today."" --Laura Shackelford is Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the co-editor of Surreal Entanglements: Essays on Jeff VanderMeer's Fiction and author of Tactics of the Human: Experimental Technics in American Fiction."

"“Dear Incomprehension is our new guide to critical failure. It is a thrilling experience of the nexus between contemporary American speculative fiction and poststructuralism's realist and materialist aftereffects. Vanderhaeghe’s readings are smart, lively, perceptive, and often surprising. They turn the contradictions at the core of literary meaning, referential realism, and critical authority around in circles. The astonishing afflictions of speculation shine forth in a new light.""—Zachary Tavlin is Assistant Professor, Adj. in Liberal Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of Glancing Visions: Surface and Depth in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. “Dear Incomprehension is well-written, engaging, and provides a compelling (anti)framework for reading contemporary experimental fiction. It unfolds a delightfully performative provocation of the reading and speculative practices it proposes we attend more closely to, opening up timely inquiries into the objects of literary studies today.""—Laura Shackelford is Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the co-editor ofSurreal Entanglements: Essays on Jeff VanderMeer's Fiction and author of Tactics of the Human: Experimental Technics in American Fiction."

"“Dear Incomprehension is our new guide to critical failure. It is a thrilling experience of the nexus between contemporary American speculative fiction and poststructuralism's realist and materialist aftereffects. Vanderhaeghe’s readings are smart, lively, perceptive, and often surprising. They turn the contradictions at the core of literary meaning, referential realism, and critical authority around in circles. The astonishing afflictions of speculation shine forth in a new light.""—Zachary Tavlin is Assistant Professor, Adj. in Liberal Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of Glancing Visions: Surface and Depth in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. “Dear Incomprehension is well-written, engaging, and provides a compelling (anti)framework for reading contemporary experimental fiction. It unfolds a delightfully performative provocation of the reading and speculative practices it proposes we attend more closely to, opening up timely inquiries into the objects of literary studies today.""—Laura Shackelford is Professor in the Department of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is the co-editor ofSurreal Entanglements: Essays on Jeff VanderMeer's Fiction and author of Tactics of the Human: Experimental Technics in American Fiction."

Author Information

StÉphane Vanderhaeghe is associate professor at the University Paris 8-Vincennes-Saint-Denis, France, where he teaches American literature and translation. He is author of Robert Coover & the Generosity of the Page and three novels published by Quidam Éditeur, including CharØgnards, À tous les airs and most recently P.R.O.T.O.C.O.L. He is also a literary translator.

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