Rachel Greenwald Smith Books
Rachel Greenwald Smith is an American literary scholar and professor of English at Saint Louis University. Her research focuses on contemporary literature, affect theory, and the intersections of aesthetics and politics.
Known for: Start Making Sense
Books by Rachel Greenwald Smith
Start Making Sense
In this collection of essays, Rachel Greenwald Smith explores the relationship between literature, emotion, and neoliberalism. She argues that the contemporary emphasis on personal feeling and individual experience in literary culture reflects broader economic and political ideologies. The book challenges readers to reconsider how we interpret art and emotion in an age dominated by market logic.
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The Concept of Affective Individualism
At the heart of this book lies a concept I call ‘affective individualism.’ It refers to the cultural expectation that emotions serve as the most authentic markers of personal identity. Contemporary literary culture celebrates emotional self-expression as a moral and artistic ideal: to feel intensely...
From Start Making Sense
Neoliberalism and the Literary Field
Literary production does not exist apart from economic structures; it is produced within them. The neoliberal era has reshaped the entire field of literature—from how books are funded and published to how they are marketed and read. Publishers brand novels through affective appeal, promising experie...
From Start Making Sense
About Rachel Greenwald Smith
Rachel Greenwald Smith is an American literary scholar and professor of English at Saint Louis University. Her research focuses on contemporary literature, affect theory, and the intersections of aesthetics and politics.
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Rachel Greenwald Smith is an American literary scholar and professor of English at Saint Louis University. Her research focuses on contemporary literature, affect theory, and the intersections of aesthetics and politics.
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