Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State
This essay analyzes Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (2004) from the perspective of “ugly feelings” (Ngai 2005) such as disavowed mourning (Butler, 2004, xiv) or loneliness in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Following Butler’s contention of the hindered possibility for...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Università degli Studi di Torino
2022-12-01
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| Series: | JAm It! |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/jamit/article/view/6801 |
| _version_ | 1797957333662302208 |
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| author | Laura de la Parra Fernández |
| author_facet | Laura de la Parra Fernández |
| author_sort | Laura de la Parra Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This essay analyzes Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (2004) from the perspective of “ugly feelings” (Ngai 2005) such as disavowed mourning (Butler, 2004, xiv) or loneliness in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Following Butler’s contention of the hindered possibility for community in the recognition of US national vulnerability (2004), I will argue that Rankine’s work underscores the disparities in public recognition of grief and private care for Othered subjects’ pain. In particular, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely displays a series of physical and mental collective ailments in US citizens, such as medicalized depression, as Rankine attempts to bear witness to the institutionalized injustice and erasure of the violence exerted upon America’s precarious bodies, enacting a form of recognition, only if temporary, through the fragmented use of the narrative/lyric ‘I’.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:02:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dd9acd5111f34915b969f82f5d9fbffa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2612-5641 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:02:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Università degli Studi di Torino |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JAm It! |
| spelling | doaj.art-dd9acd5111f34915b969f82f5d9fbffa2023-01-09T17:07:34ZengUniversità degli Studi di TorinoJAm It!2612-56412022-12-01710.13135/2612-5641/6801Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring StateLaura de la Parra Fernández0Universidad Complutense de Madrid This essay analyzes Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric (2004) from the perspective of “ugly feelings” (Ngai 2005) such as disavowed mourning (Butler, 2004, xiv) or loneliness in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Following Butler’s contention of the hindered possibility for community in the recognition of US national vulnerability (2004), I will argue that Rankine’s work underscores the disparities in public recognition of grief and private care for Othered subjects’ pain. In particular, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely displays a series of physical and mental collective ailments in US citizens, such as medicalized depression, as Rankine attempts to bear witness to the institutionalized injustice and erasure of the violence exerted upon America’s precarious bodies, enacting a form of recognition, only if temporary, through the fragmented use of the narrative/lyric ‘I’. https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/jamit/article/view/6801NeoliberalismLyric EssayAffect Theory9/11Health Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Laura de la Parra Fernández Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State JAm It! Neoliberalism Lyric Essay Affect Theory 9/11 Health Humanities |
| title | Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State |
| title_full | Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State |
| title_fullStr | Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State |
| title_full_unstemmed | Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State |
| title_short | Loneliness, Grief and the (Un)Caring State |
| title_sort | loneliness grief and the un caring state |
| topic | Neoliberalism Lyric Essay Affect Theory 9/11 Health Humanities |
| url | https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/jamit/article/view/6801 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lauradelaparrafernandez lonelinessgriefandtheuncaringstate |