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Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial Form in the Contemporary Novel

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Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial Form in the Contemporary Novel University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2016 Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial form in the Contemporary Novel Laura Finch University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the American Literature Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, and the Literature in English, North America Commons Recommended Citation Finch, Laura, "Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial form in the Contemporary Novel" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1714. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1714 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1714 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial form in the Contemporary Novel Abstract My dissertation, “Personal Finance: Economic Citizenship and Financial Form in the Contemporary Novel” theorises the novel’s engagement with the post-1970s financialisation of the economy from the ground up. Contrary to the dominant perception of finance as a turn away from the solidity of industry and production in favour of a realm of hyperbolic abstraction, finance capital emerges in this project as a thickly material concern. My writing follows the money, tracking the way that finance is outedr through social forms: urban planning, philanthrocapitalism, migrant access to citizenship in global cities, and the fleshy finance of corporate nanotechnology. These material forms do not replace the abstract form of finance capital; atherr , the two must be theorised together. Nowhere is this articulated more eloquently than in the contemporary novel. As a form that has emerged to mediate the relationship between the individual and the social, investigating the broadest economic shifts with the sensitive instrument of character, the contemporary novel is both an essential archive and a highly ambivalent response to new financial ealities.r A second and related claim of “Personal Finance” concerns the complexity of theorising a mode of capital that is both deeply national and rapaciously global. Critical work on finance in the humanities slips swiftly from identifying the lived experience of finance in a US context to arguing that this financialised form of citizenship will play out identically across the globe. Countering this claim informs both the archive and the methodology of my project. My dissertation reads a set of contemporary US novels that trace the felt experiences of the global economy within North America alongside a set of contemporary novels from the wider Anglophone world. Building on recent theoretical work in literature and economics and urban studies, the emphasis of “Personal Finance” throughout is to unsettle hegemonic claims about the financial, the global, and the national through the material and affective archive of the contemporary novel. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Comparative Literature and Literary Theory First Advisor James F. English Keywords Citizen, Contemporary, Economy, Finance, Financialisation, Form Subject Categories American Literature | Comparative Literature | English Language and Literature | Literature in English, North America This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1714 PERSONAL FINANCE: ECONOMIC CITIZENSHIP AND FINANCIAL FORM IN THE CONTEMPORARY NOVEL Laura Finch A DISSERTATION in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 Supervisor of Dissertation _______________ James F. English John Welsh Centennial Professor of English and Director of the Penn Humanities Forum Graduate Group Chairperson _______________ Kevin Platt, Edmund and Louise Kahn Term Professor in the Humanities Dissertation Committee Paul K. Saint Amour, Professor of English Michael Tratner, Mary E. Garrett Alumnae Professor of English ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Academia recognises the pristine tip of the iceberg: the dissertation, the institutional support behind it, and (perhaps) the codified concession of the spousal hire. But it is the craggy submerged part of the proverbial ‘berg (technically termed “the bummock,” I learn as I write this) – the depth and breadth of emotional and intellectual support – that allows every dissertator to try again, fail again, fail better. To my committee first of all: Jim English, standing on the shoulders of presumably several giants, who met each fresh panic with intellectual clarity, encouragement, and chocolate; may the carrot of the truffle-list dangle before many other graduate students to come. To Paul Saint-Amour, whose linguistic dexterity is matched at every moment by a deep and beautiful commitment to thinking patiently alongside things; and who gave me the gift of Riddley Walker (no trubba). And to Michael Tratner whose generosity of thought, interest, and enthusiasm has been a blessing in the last two years of this project. To the good ship Penn Comp Lit, that strange beast on the 7th floor of Williams. To Kevin Platt for manning the tiller, and to the intellectual community that found their home there or thereabouts: Kate Aid, Avi Alpert, Andy Hao, Jos Lavery, Cliff Mak, J. Bret Maney, Sal Nicolazzo, Jessica Rosenberg, and Gabe Sessions. And of course, JoAnne Dubil: unstintingly generous, kind, and wise and without whom the wheels would have fallen off a long time ago. And to Penn English, my other home, which I was fortunate to share with a bunch of all stars: Thomas Dichter, Alice McGrath, Kelly Rich, and Bronwyn Wallace. To my friends in Philly who have made this city such a home: Fatima Adamu, who is as strong inside as she is out and whose generosity is as big as her smile; Morgan Andrews for his practice and encouragement; Jackie Egitto for her indefatigable good humour and excellent pedagogy (shoulders, warm down, weekend!); Adam Leeds: raw of egg, big of heart; Shy Oakes and sweet Smoot who live bravely and thoughtfully; Michelle Robinson for her misanthropy and kittens; George Urgo and DumpleJam: not an issue; not a problem; Astrid Lorange: my sweet goatlet haunch and beautiful wordsmith. Sandy Griffiths, whose determination, loyalty, cooking, and quads are things to behold (statistically speaking). Mike Norton, the kindest most caring boy a girl could hope to know: killer of worms, keeper of bubbles, patron (saint?) of WaWa. To Kareem Wahlgren who cares more than he lets on, is funnier than any American has the right to be, who let me know and love Tank the dog, and who was a dear partner to me even as I dissertated madly. And to Simon Roux, who came in at the final furlong with cookies, discipline, and a huge capacity to love. Finally, to my chosen lady family; my insides, my everything. In the old country: Rosie French and Rebecca Lever who seize their desires whole-heartedly and carry on with gin and filthy jokes when things get rough; and to Lydia Wilson in whose beauty and iii kindness I delight. From baby school and beyond: Olivia Roberts, whose strength, loyalty and energy are without parallel and who has listened with patience and support from the first day of school when you looked after this cry-baby. To Laura Gibbon, from the Isle of Wight, through the dark teenage times, to today, whose intelligence and love are extraordinary. And to Amanda Fernando Stevens, my sweet birthday twin. From “we are the angels” to the days of Millefeuille. My intimate confidante, hilarious twister, and naughty soul- sister who thinks deeply and with levity at the same time. “It’s cold isn’t it shall we put our coats on…?” And to my Philly ladies: Joan Lubin and Devorah Fischler, my bitter thruple. Joan, your whip-tongue, willingness to say yes to all offers and definitive existence outside of history make you an extraordinary sort of man. Feesch, whose judgement is impeccable, feminism is complex, and hair is a thing of great beauty, and who has loved Bertie so well in my absences. Thea Riofrancos and Katy Hardy, my ladies auxiliary, my writing partners, my drinking buddies, my telepathic other thirds. To Thea’s small food items, megapoof, sassy self, femmey beauty, grit and determination, and empathy. To Katy’s nibbled bites, citrus diet, bread-love, hugeness of heart, latticed sociality, and constant friendship. And for the love without end you both give. To Nava EtShalom, who lives her politics every single day in ways that are committed, fierce, loving, kind, generous, and brilliant and who makes the world richer through the smallest of her encounters to the largest of her thoughts. You are wise, loving and extraordinary, and your lipstick is on point; long may you reign. To my Jess Hurley, from poison beans to lime on shoe to oats in the fridge to hymen cakes to contemporaneology and beyond. My other half. You are wise, dignified, ethical, just, and hilarious, and have exhibited grit and tenacity when others would have faltered. You hold the apocalyptic present and the utopian horizon together in your brilliance; to know you and love you is an extraordinary thing. And finally to Bertie, my sweet companion, who demands excellence from me at all times as only a prissy feline can. Thank you for your tail, for your ear furnishings, for your strange cat love, and for making the turret a home for us. “Personal Finance” is dedicated
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