Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 1-9-2018 11:30 AM Narrative Immunities: The Logic of Infection and Defense in American Speculative Fiction Riley R. McDonald The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Schuster, Joshua The University of Western Ontario Joint Supervisor Carmichael, Thomas The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in English A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Riley R. McDonald 2018 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation McDonald, Riley R., "Narrative Immunities: The Logic of Infection and Defense in American Speculative Fiction" (2018). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 5174. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5174 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Abstract In this project I analyze the roles that notions of viruses and immunities and their figurations play within the narrative discourse of speculative fiction. Focusing on a series of texts from twentieth- and twenty-first century American fiction, I seek to examine the ways in which the dialectical confrontation between infection and immunity is explored, reified, or challenged on a narrative level. The terms “virus” and “immunity,” so intrinsic to life sciences, have come into use to describe specific micro-organisms and biological processes only within the last 150 years. Yet these terms possess a significantly longer history in political, legalistic, and philosophical discourses.