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oapen-20.500.12657-602352024-03-27T14:14:54Z Asbestos – The Last Modernist Object Rose, Arthur Literary Criticism Comparative Literature thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism Few modern materials have been as central to histories of environmental toxicity, medical ignorance, and legal liability as asbestos. A naturally occurring mineral fibre once hailed for its ability to guard against fire, asbestos is now best known for the horrific illnesses it causes. This book offers a new take on the established history of asbestos from a literary critical perspective, showing how literature and film during and after modernism responded first to the material’s proliferation through the built environment, and then to its catastrophic effects on human health. Starting from the surprising encounters writers have had with asbestos—Franz Kafka’s part ownership of an asbestos factory, Primo Levi’s work in an asbestos mine, and James Kelman’s early life as an asbestos factory worker—the book looks to literature to rethink received truths in historical, legal and medical scholarship. In doing so, it models an interdisciplinary approach for tracking material intersections between modernism and the environmental and health humanities. Asbestos – The Last Modernist Object offers readers a compelling new method for using cultural objects when thinking about how to live with the legacies of toxic materials. 2022-12-15T05:31:39Z 2022-12-15T05:31:39Z 2022 book 9781474482424 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/60235 eng application/epub+zip application/pdf Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International external_content.epub external_content.pdf Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press 2a191404-86cd-479e-afc8-ff2b8d611a94 b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9781474482424 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) Edinburgh University Press Knowledge Unlatched open access
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Few modern materials have been as central to histories of environmental toxicity, medical ignorance, and legal liability as asbestos. A naturally occurring mineral fibre once hailed for its ability to guard against fire, asbestos is now best known for the horrific illnesses it causes. This book offers a new take on the established history of asbestos from a literary critical perspective, showing how literature and film during and after modernism responded first to the material’s proliferation through the built environment, and then to its catastrophic effects on human health. Starting from the surprising encounters writers have had with asbestos—Franz Kafka’s part ownership of an asbestos factory, Primo Levi’s work in an asbestos mine, and James Kelman’s early life as an asbestos factory worker—the book looks to literature to rethink received truths in historical, legal and medical scholarship. In doing so, it models an interdisciplinary approach for tracking material intersections between modernism and the environmental and health humanities. Asbestos – The Last Modernist Object offers readers a compelling new method for using cultural objects when thinking about how to live with the legacies of toxic materials.
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