Streaks of Pragmatic Moral Imagination in Post-postmodern Fiction: A Study of Deweyan Philosophy in Dave Eggers’ Heroes of the Frontiers

Document Type : علمی - پژوهشی

Authors

1 PhD Student of English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature,, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Central Tehran Branch,, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of English Language and Literature,, Faculty of Foreign Languages,, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Although a number of theorists, critics, and philosophers have acknowledged the recent ethical turn in the novel and literary criticism since the last two decades, the quiddity of illustrated morality remains vague and needs further research. Thus, the present article endeavors to evaluate the new moral matrix in Heroes of the Frontier (2016) by Dave Eggers, indicating the end of postmodern era. Indeed, this novel demonstrates a world in which people face plights of postmodernism caused by egoism and consumerism. However, in the rest of the novel, a wondrous ethical turn occurs which has never been detected before and needs to be examined in detail. Since this is a situational, experimental, and posteriori morality, the researchers aim to study the aforementioned novel under the light of John Dewey’s pragmatic ethics based on “moral inquiry”, “experience”, “imagination”, “situation”, and “meliorism”. This research also demonstrates that moral imagination could solve the individual and social problems in postmodern society, which can lead to moral evolution, growth, self-correction, reconstruction and advent of hope.

Highlights

Ahi, Mohammad, and Fatemeh Mehrabani Mamdooh. “Pragmatism in Kalileh and Demneh.” Literary Text Research, vol. 18, no. 61, 2014, pp. 63-82.

Bex, Sean. “Particularizing the Universal: Dave Eggers Writes Human Rights.” Journal of Human Rights, vol. 15, no. 1, 2016, pp. 79-97.

Bidgoli, Mehrdad, and Shamsoddin Royanian. “Shakespeare’s Position in Levinas’s Philosophy.” Critical Language and Theory Studies. Shahid Beheshti University. vol.15, no.21, 2019, pp. 57-96.

Clark, Leilani. “Tales of Daring and Adventure in Dave Eggers’ Heroes of the Frontier.” KQED Inc, 2016.

www.kqed.org/arts/11867732/tales-of-daring-and-adventure-in-dave-eggers-heroes-of-the-frontier.

Clements, James. “Trust Your Makers of Things: The Metafictional Pact in Dave Eggers’ You Shall Know Our Velocity.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 56, no. 2, 2015, pp. 121-137.

Dewey, John. Experience and Nature. George Allen and Unwin LTD, 1929.

Dewey, John. Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology. The Random House, 1922.

Dewey, John. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. Henry Holt and Company, 1939.

Dewey, John. “Moral Judgement and Knowledge.” The Later Works 1925-1953: 1932 Ethics, vol.7, Southern Illinois University Press, 1985, pp. 262-284.

Dewey, John. Principles of Instrumental Logic: John Dewey’s Lectures in Ethics and Political Ethics 1895-1896, edited by Donald F. Koch, Sothern Illinois University, 2008.

Dewey, John. Reconstruction in Philosophy. Henry Holt and Company, 1920.

Dewey, John.The Early Works 1882-1898: 1895-1898. vol. 5, Southern Illinois University Press, 1972.

Dewey, John. The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays. Prometheus, 1997.

Dewey, John. The Later Works 1925-1953: 1929. vol. 4, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.

Dewey, John. The Middle Works 1899-1924: 1916-1917. vol. 10, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.

Dewey, John. The Middle Works 1899-1924: 1918-1919. vol. 11, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.

Dewey, John. “The Place of Reason in the Moral life.”The Middle Works 1899-1924: Ethics 1908, vol. 5, Southern Illinois University Press, 1983, pp. 278-304.

Eggers, Dave.  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Vintage Books, 2001.

Eggers, Dave. “Author Dave Eggers.” Interview conducted by Claire Suddath. Time, 2009.

Eggers, Dave. “Author Dave Eggers Calls for Ethical Parameters on Tech at Stanford Event.” Interview conducted by Tanu Wakefield, Stanford News, 2014.

Eggers, Dave. Heroes of the Frontier. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

Fesmire, Steven. John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics. Indiana University Press, 2003.

Ghasemi, Azam, and Hamid Reza Ayatelahi. “The Critical Inquiry of the Philosophical Foundations of the Ethical Views of John Dewey.” Ethics in Science and Technology, vol. 2, no. 1-2, 2007, pp. 31-41.

Gibson, Andrew. Postmodernity, Ethics and the Novel from Leavis to Levinas. Routledge, 2001.

Grimstad, Paul. Experience and Experimental Writing: Literary Pragmatism from Emerson to the Jameses. Oxford University Press, 2013.

Hickman, Larry A. Pragmatism as Post-postmodernism: Lessons from John Dewey (American Philosophy), Fordham University Press, 2007.

Hildebrand, David. L. Beyond Realism and Antirealism: John Dewey and the Neopragmatists. Nashville, 2003.

Hook, Sidney, “Dewey as A philosopher pf Growth.” Journal of Philosophy, vol. 56, no. 26, 1959, pp. 1010-1081.

Lachs, John. Freedom and Limits. Edited by Patrick Shade, Fordham University Press, 2014.

LaFollette, Hugh. “Pragmatic Ethics.” Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. Blackwell, 1997, pp. 400-419.

MacIntyre, Alasdair. Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry: Encyclopedia, Genealogy and Tradition. Duckworth, 1990, pp. 172–73.

Montakhabi Bakhtvar, Narges. “Language, Ethics, and Identity in Postmodern Theater.” Critical Language and Theory Studies. Shahid Beheshti University. vol. 13, no. 17, 2017, pp. 245-268.

Pignagnoli, Virginia. “Surveillance in Post-Postmodern American Fiction: Dave Eggers’ The Circle, Jonathan Franzen’s Purity and Gary Steinhart’s Super Sad True Love Story.” Spaces of Surveillance: States and Selves, edited by Susan Flynn and Antonia Mackay, 2017, 151-167.

Stuhr, John   J. Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and the Future of Philosophy. Routledge, 2003. 

Tandt, Christophe Den. “Pragmatic Commitments: Postmodern Realism in Don DeLillo, Maxine Hong Kingston, and James Ellroy.” Beyond Postmodernism: Reassessments in Literature, Theory, and Culture, edited by Klaus Stierstorfer, Walter de Gruyter, 2003, pp. 121-142. 

White, Ryan. The Hidden God: Pragmatism and Posthumanism in American Thought. Columbia University Press, 2015.

Keywords

References

Ahi, Mohammad, and Fatemeh Mehrabani Mamdooh. “Pragmatism in Kalileh and Demneh.” Literary Text Research, vol. 18, no. 61, 2014, pp. 63-82.
Bex, Sean. “Particularizing the Universal: Dave Eggers Writes Human Rights.” Journal of Human Rights, vol. 15, no. 1, 2016, pp. 79-97.
Bidgoli, Mehrdad, and Shamsoddin Royanian. “Shakespeare’s Position in Levinas’s Philosophy.” Critical Language and Theory Studies. Shahid Beheshti University. vol.15, no.21, 2019, pp. 57-96.
Clark, Leilani. “Tales of Daring and Adventure in Dave Eggers’ Heroes of the Frontier.” KQED Inc, 2016.
www.kqed.org/arts/11867732/tales-of-daring-and-adventure-in-dave-eggers-heroes-of-the-frontier.
Clements, James. “Trust Your Makers of Things: The Metafictional Pact in Dave Eggers’ You Shall Know Our Velocity.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 56, no. 2, 2015, pp. 121-137.
Dewey, John. Experience and Nature. George Allen and Unwin LTD, 1929.
Dewey, John. Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Psychology. The Random House, 1922.
Dewey, John. Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. Henry Holt and Company, 1939.
Dewey, John. “Moral Judgement and Knowledge.” The Later Works 1925-1953: 1932 Ethics, vol.7, Southern Illinois University Press, 1985, pp. 262-284.
Dewey, John. Principles of Instrumental Logic: John Dewey’s Lectures in Ethics and Political Ethics 1895-1896, edited by Donald F. Koch, Sothern Illinois University, 2008.
Dewey, John. Reconstruction in Philosophy. Henry Holt and Company, 1920.
Dewey, John.The Early Works 1882-1898: 1895-1898. vol. 5, Southern Illinois University Press, 1972.
Dewey, John. The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy and Other Essays. Prometheus, 1997.
Dewey, John. The Later Works 1925-1953: 1929. vol. 4, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.
Dewey, John. The Middle Works 1899-1924: 1916-1917. vol. 10, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.
Dewey, John. The Middle Works 1899-1924: 1918-1919. vol. 11, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 2008.
Dewey, John. “The Place of Reason in the Moral life.”The Middle Works 1899-1924: Ethics 1908, vol. 5, Southern Illinois University Press, 1983, pp. 278-304.
Eggers, Dave.  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Vintage Books, 2001.
Eggers, Dave. “Author Dave Eggers.” Interview conducted by Claire Suddath. Time, 2009.
Eggers, Dave. “Author Dave Eggers Calls for Ethical Parameters on Tech at Stanford Event.” Interview conducted by Tanu Wakefield, Stanford News, 2014.
Eggers, Dave. Heroes of the Frontier. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.
Fesmire, Steven. John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics. Indiana University Press, 2003.
Ghasemi, Azam, and Hamid Reza Ayatelahi. “The Critical Inquiry of the Philosophical Foundations of the Ethical Views of John Dewey.” Ethics in Science and Technology, vol. 2, no. 1-2, 2007, pp. 31-41.
Gibson, Andrew. Postmodernity, Ethics and the Novel from Leavis to Levinas. Routledge, 2001.
Grimstad, Paul. Experience and Experimental Writing: Literary Pragmatism from Emerson to the Jameses. Oxford University Press, 2013.
Hickman, Larry A. Pragmatism as Post-postmodernism: Lessons from John Dewey (American Philosophy), Fordham University Press, 2007.
Hildebrand, David. L. Beyond Realism and Antirealism: John Dewey and the Neopragmatists. Nashville, 2003.
Hook, Sidney, “Dewey as A philosopher pf Growth.” Journal of Philosophy, vol. 56, no. 26, 1959, pp. 1010-1081.
Lachs, John. Freedom and Limits. Edited by Patrick Shade, Fordham University Press, 2014.
LaFollette, Hugh. “Pragmatic Ethics.” Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. Blackwell, 1997, pp. 400-419.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry: Encyclopedia, Genealogy and Tradition. Duckworth, 1990, pp. 172–73.
Montakhabi Bakhtvar, Narges. “Language, Ethics, and Identity in Postmodern Theater.” Critical Language and Theory Studies. Shahid Beheshti University. vol. 13, no. 17, 2017, pp. 245-268.
Pignagnoli, Virginia. “Surveillance in Post-Postmodern American Fiction: Dave Eggers’ The Circle, Jonathan Franzen’s Purity and Gary Steinhart’s Super Sad True Love Story.” Spaces of Surveillance: States and Selves, edited by Susan Flynn and Antonia Mackay, 2017, 151-167.
Stuhr, John   J. Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and the Future of Philosophy. Routledge, 2003. 
Tandt, Christophe Den. “Pragmatic Commitments: Postmodern Realism in Don DeLillo, Maxine Hong Kingston, and James Ellroy.” Beyond Postmodernism: Reassessments in Literature, Theory, and Culture, edited by Klaus Stierstorfer, Walter de Gruyter, 2003, pp. 121-142. 
White, Ryan. The Hidden God: Pragmatism and Posthumanism in American Thought. Columbia University Press, 2015.
Critical Language and Literary studies
Volume 18, Issue 27
February 2022
Pages 185-212

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