{"title":"Deconstructing the Christian Anarcho-Fascism of Atlas Shrugged","authors":"C. Morris","doi":"10.1353/arq.2023.a899698","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Academic criticism of Atlas Shrugged has focused on Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and issues of gender; these studies have not yet accounted for the novel's appeal to seemingly antithetical audiences—Christians, anarchists, and arguably fascistic members of the alt-right. Redefinitions of Christianity in the work of Derrida and Nancy can account for this heterogeneity by emphasizing its suspended referent, in and beyond apocalypse and revelation. A hyper-Augustinian detachment from the Christian \"world\" that precedes their advent permits maximum solipsism and xenophobia, an orientation made possible by the acknowledgement of only one, messianic other. Taggart's \"consubstantial\" union with Galt legitimizes both predatory capitalism and the leadership principle. For Nancy, especially, such a potential was always inherent in Christianity.","PeriodicalId":42394,"journal":{"name":"Arizona Quarterly","volume":"79 1","pages":"114 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Arizona Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/arq.2023.a899698","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE, AMERICAN","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract:Academic criticism of Atlas Shrugged has focused on Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and issues of gender; these studies have not yet accounted for the novel's appeal to seemingly antithetical audiences—Christians, anarchists, and arguably fascistic members of the alt-right. Redefinitions of Christianity in the work of Derrida and Nancy can account for this heterogeneity by emphasizing its suspended referent, in and beyond apocalypse and revelation. A hyper-Augustinian detachment from the Christian "world" that precedes their advent permits maximum solipsism and xenophobia, an orientation made possible by the acknowledgement of only one, messianic other. Taggart's "consubstantial" union with Galt legitimizes both predatory capitalism and the leadership principle. For Nancy, especially, such a potential was always inherent in Christianity.
期刊介绍：
Arizona Quarterly publishes scholarly essays on American literature, culture, and theory. It is our mission to subject these categories to debate, argument, interpretation, and contestation via critical readings of primary texts. We accept essays that are grounded in textual, formal, cultural, and theoretical examination of texts and situated with respect to current academic conversations whilst extending the boundaries thereof.
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