Overview

This volume explores the relationship between democracy, secrecy, and transparency in contemporary English literature. It focuses on how fiction engages with the tension between secrecy and disclosure, central to debates about freedom in information societies. Drawing on theorists like Derrida, Birchall, Horn, and Han, among others, the essays examine secrecy as a form of resistance against hegemonic transparency, framing it as a political act of dissent. Scholars on Secrecy Studies argue that secrecy challenges dominant ideologies and creates space for contestation, rather than aligning with oppressive systems. Literature is positioned as an ideal realm to articulate these ideas, showcasing how secrecy functions both thematically and formally. On one level, literature reflects dissidence, freedom of expression, and censorship; on another, it underscores the impossibility of full disclosure, with texts retaining interpretive openness. This collection analyzes how secrecy operates as a structuring device, shaping narrative form, and explores its connections to resistance, democracy, and transparency in cultural and political contexts. The chapter “Posthumanism, Secrecy, and Transparency: From Jennifer Egan's ‘Black Box’ (2012) to ‘Lulu the Spy, 2032’ in The Candy House” by Sonia Baelo-Allué is a Gold Open Access chapter with a CC-BY 4.0 licence. It can be downloaded here.

Full Product Details

Author:   Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque ,  Paula Martín-Salván
Publisher:   Peter Lang AG
Imprint:   Peter Lang AG
Edition:   New edition
Volume:   8
Weight:   0.471kg
ISBN:  

9783631927441

ISBN 10:   3631927444
Pages:   310
Publication Date:   30 March 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS - Introduction: Democracy, Secrecy, Dissidence - Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque and Paula Martín-Salván - Post-Truth Secrets - Clare Birchall - The Political is the Psychological: Hauntology, Autoimmunity and the Construction and Fragmentation of Secrets and Crypts in Anna Burns’ Little Constructions - Felicity Smith - Secrecy, Politics and Ethics in Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant - María Luisa Pascual Garrido - Teju Cole’s Poetics of Secrecy and Revelation - Kai Wiegandt - (In)sanity is Her Alibi: on Silence, Secrecy, and (in)Sanity as Chinese American Epistemology in The Woman Warrior - Luna Chung - ""Begin with the assumption that you don’t know anything about being Black"": Cultural Opacity in Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads - Jesús Blanco Hidalga - ""The Noir Rhetoric of Ireland’s Rule of Secrecy in Benjamin Black’s Elegy for April and April in Spain"" - Auxiliadora Pérez-Vides - Dissent and Secrecy in the Works of Shirley Jackson - Samantha Landau - The Private and the Public in Mason & Dixon - Sascha Pöhlmann - ""Thinking Positive / Saying Positive"": Transparency, Solidarity, and Failure in George Saunders' Pastoralia- Ed Smith - Posthumanism, Secrecy, and Transparency: From Jennifer Egan’s ""Black Box"" (2012) to ""Lulu the Spy, 2032"" in The Candy House - Sonia Baelo-Allué

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Author Information

Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque is Associate Professor of English at the University of Córdoba. His research focuses on ideological approaches to popular culture in English, particularly within the genres of horror, science-fiction and fantasy. Paula Martín-Salván is Professor of English at the University of Córdoba. Her research focuses on representations of community, secrecy and transparency in contemporary fiction.

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