Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last

. Hanna Jameson’s post-apocalyptic detective novel, The Last (2019), addresses contemporary issues that affect us on both a collective and an individual level. The author diagnoses the denial of nuclearism and calls for an awareness of the nuclear age combined with the looming threat of climate...

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Main Author: Renáta Zsámba
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Scientia Publishing House 2021-11-01
Series:Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
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Online Access:https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/detecting-post-nuclear-crisis-in-hanna-j.pdf
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author Renáta Zsámba
author_facet Renáta Zsámba
author_sort Renáta Zsámba
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description . Hanna Jameson’s post-apocalyptic detective novel, The Last (2019), addresses contemporary issues that affect us on both a collective and an individual level. The author diagnoses the denial of nuclearism and calls for an awareness of the nuclear age combined with the looming threat of climate change. The novel negotiates alternative strategies for the treatment of crisis brought about by the nuclear attack and borrows many of the thematic and structural elements from twentieth-century nuclear fictions in which the apocalypse is not necessarily regarded in negative terms but as a chance for regeneration. The events of the post-nuclear months in a Swiss hotel are narrated by an American historian whose written account serves several goals. It gives the illusion of delaying crisis, but it also reveals his fears and traumas conjured up by radioactive spectres. There are two different types of narratives at work, the narrative of the crisis and that of the investigation. The narrator-protagonist becomes obsessed with finding the solution to a murder mystery, which in a metaphorical sense is to give a soothing answer to the death of millions. However, this attempt keeps failing, and thus the narrative of the crisis devours all kinds of rational initiatives to resolve chaos. In order to elaborate on the psychological impact of the post-nuclear crisis in subject construction, I do not only examine the character of the amateur detective of the whodunit whose intervention aims to restore order, but I also apply Gabriele Schwab’s concepts of post-nuclear subjectivity and nuclear hauntology.
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spelling doaj-art-8b2bc80d629948db91a64b0136b2feb62025-08-20T02:47:06ZdeuScientia Publishing HouseActa Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica2067-51512068-29562021-11-01131455910.2478/ausp-2021-0004Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The LastRenáta Zsámba0Eszterházy Károly University. Hanna Jameson’s post-apocalyptic detective novel, The Last (2019), addresses contemporary issues that affect us on both a collective and an individual level. The author diagnoses the denial of nuclearism and calls for an awareness of the nuclear age combined with the looming threat of climate change. The novel negotiates alternative strategies for the treatment of crisis brought about by the nuclear attack and borrows many of the thematic and structural elements from twentieth-century nuclear fictions in which the apocalypse is not necessarily regarded in negative terms but as a chance for regeneration. The events of the post-nuclear months in a Swiss hotel are narrated by an American historian whose written account serves several goals. It gives the illusion of delaying crisis, but it also reveals his fears and traumas conjured up by radioactive spectres. There are two different types of narratives at work, the narrative of the crisis and that of the investigation. The narrator-protagonist becomes obsessed with finding the solution to a murder mystery, which in a metaphorical sense is to give a soothing answer to the death of millions. However, this attempt keeps failing, and thus the narrative of the crisis devours all kinds of rational initiatives to resolve chaos. In order to elaborate on the psychological impact of the post-nuclear crisis in subject construction, I do not only examine the character of the amateur detective of the whodunit whose intervention aims to restore order, but I also apply Gabriele Schwab’s concepts of post-nuclear subjectivity and nuclear hauntology.https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/detecting-post-nuclear-crisis-in-hanna-j.pdfpost-apocalyptic detective novelpost-nuclear crisisinvestigationtraumapost-nuclear subjectivity
spellingShingle Renáta Zsámba
Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
post-apocalyptic detective novel
post-nuclear crisis
investigation
trauma
post-nuclear subjectivity
title Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
title_full Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
title_fullStr Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
title_full_unstemmed Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
title_short Detecting Post-nuclear Crisis in Hanna Jameson's The Last
title_sort detecting post nuclear crisis in hanna jameson s the last
topic post-apocalyptic detective novel
post-nuclear crisis
investigation
trauma
post-nuclear subjectivity
url https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/detecting-post-nuclear-crisis-in-hanna-j.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT renatazsamba detectingpostnuclearcrisisinhannajamesonsthelast