The Sublime of the Political: Narrative and Autoethnography as Theory - Hardcover

by Dean Caivano (Author), Sarah Naumes (Author)

In an age of immediate and global exchange of information, the ability to theorize about political conditions remains largely an elite, technocratic, and esoteric enterprise. In this timely intervention, Dean Caivano and Sarah Naumes argue that storytelling in the form of narrative and autoethnography creates an emancipatory potential through its ability to theorize from below, welcoming marginalized and excluded voices. Drawing from the disciplines of political studies, philosophy and literary studies, this volume offers a new assessment of political texts through the lens of the sublime as a fertile terrain to challenge who can write and disseminate political ideas - and how.

Author Biography

Dean Caivano is a Professor of Political Science and History at Merced College in California, USA. His work can be found in New Political Science, Journal of Narrative Politics, and Spectra. He is currently working on a book length project titled, A Politics of All: Thomas Jefferson and Radical Democracy.
Sarah Naumes is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in the Department of Politics at York University in Canada. She is also a Research Development Officer with the University of California, Merced in the United States. She has published in and on narrative and autoethnography in Millennium and Journal of Narrative Politics. Her research explores the ways that pain and trauma are experienced and theorized by veterans of the Canadian and United States armed forces.