“Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor
This article proposes a reading of The Counselor (2013) as an extrapolation of the frontier ethic animating much of Cormac McCarthy’s earlier writing. I will propose that echoes of Blood Meridian (1985), which presented the duality of barbarism and capital, are audible and perpetuated under digital...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12364 |
| _version_ | 1797310267608006656 |
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| author | David Deacon |
| author_facet | David Deacon |
| author_sort | David Deacon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article proposes a reading of The Counselor (2013) as an extrapolation of the frontier ethic animating much of Cormac McCarthy’s earlier writing. I will propose that echoes of Blood Meridian (1985), which presented the duality of barbarism and capital, are audible and perpetuated under digital capitalism, a condition encompassing the expansion of increasingly impersonal and anonymized capital under neoliberal socio-economics, empowered by digital globalization. Thus, the screenplay extends classic McCarthian themes, while expanding the remit of critique to class relations in contemporary cross-border, and global consumer economies. The subversive appetites of Western consumerism—focused around commodity fetishism and narcotics—symbolized by characters like Westray, Reiner, and Malkina, render a distinctly modern tragedy enabling a critique of how (and whether) it is possible to represent and oppose such a system of increasing ephemerality and correlative persuasion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9314bbae9b2144b082973d0ad98e99c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:26Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-9314bbae9b2144b082973d0ad98e99c52024-02-14T13:22:33ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933612310.4000/ejas.12364“Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The CounselorDavid DeaconThis article proposes a reading of The Counselor (2013) as an extrapolation of the frontier ethic animating much of Cormac McCarthy’s earlier writing. I will propose that echoes of Blood Meridian (1985), which presented the duality of barbarism and capital, are audible and perpetuated under digital capitalism, a condition encompassing the expansion of increasingly impersonal and anonymized capital under neoliberal socio-economics, empowered by digital globalization. Thus, the screenplay extends classic McCarthian themes, while expanding the remit of critique to class relations in contemporary cross-border, and global consumer economies. The subversive appetites of Western consumerism—focused around commodity fetishism and narcotics—symbolized by characters like Westray, Reiner, and Malkina, render a distinctly modern tragedy enabling a critique of how (and whether) it is possible to represent and oppose such a system of increasing ephemerality and correlative persuasion.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12364ideologyneoliberalismCormac McCarthyThe Counselordigital capitalism |
| spellingShingle | David Deacon “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor European Journal of American Studies ideology neoliberalism Cormac McCarthy The Counselor digital capitalism |
| title | “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor |
| title_full | “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor |
| title_fullStr | “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor |
| title_short | “Some Unholy Alloy”: Neoliberalism, Digital Modernity, and the Mechanics of Globalized Capital in Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor |
| title_sort | some unholy alloy neoliberalism digital modernity and the mechanics of globalized capital in cormac mccarthy s the counselor |
| topic | ideology neoliberalism Cormac McCarthy The Counselor digital capitalism |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12364 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT daviddeacon someunholyalloyneoliberalismdigitalmodernityandthemechanicsofglobalizedcapitalincormacmccarthysthecounselor |