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La libido réactionnaire? The recent fiction of J. G. Ballard

University of Chichester, UK, b.noys{at}chi.ac.uk

This essay addresses the question of whether the contemporary British writer J. G. Ballard is reactionary. It uses the work of the psychoanalytic thinker Slavoj iek to analyse the ways in which his recent fiction, the novels Cocaine Nights (1996), Super-Cannes (2000), Millennium People (2003) and Kingdom Come (2006), poses disturbing questions concerning order, community and transgression within contemporary capitalist society. The analysis traces the shifting and ambiguous political e fects of Ballard's attempts to provide warnings concerning emergent cultural pathologies. This leads to an examination of how Ballard puts the generic conventions of contemporary fiction under pressure by his subversion of the crime/thriller novel. The conclusion focuses on the relative lack of controversy aroused by Ballard's provocative fiction in Britain.

Key Words: J. G. Ballard • psychoanalysis • reactionary • Slavoj iek

References

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Journal of European Studies, Vol. 37, No. 4, 391-406 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0047244107083226


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Noys, B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?