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645"I Watched Jane Die:" Theorizing Breaking Bad's Aesthetic of BrutalityIn Jensen Ian K. (ed.), Breaking Down "Breaking Bad:" Critical Perspectives, University of New Mexico Press. pp. 111-138. 2016.
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620Can a Signifier Float? Or, Implications: Lévi-Strauss and the Aporia of the SymbolicActa Structuralica 5. 2020.This essay centers on the notion of the symbolic and its impact as developed by Claude Lévi-Strauss in his Introduction to the Work of Marcel Mauss. I examine Lévi-Strauss’ formulation of the “floating signifier” and its influence in French thought, particularly in the work of Jacques Lacan and Jacques Derrida. In doing so, I argue that Lévi-Strauss’ notion may be a misreading of the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure that has important implications for contemporary political issues…Read more
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517Authenticity, Right Relation and the Return of the Repressed Native in James Galvin’s "The Meadow"Journal of Contemporary Thought 43 84-109. 2016.This essay reads acclaimed poet James Galvin’s 1992 semi-autobiographical novel through the lenses of Martin Heidegger’s notion of authenticity and Patrick Wolfe’s discussion of settler-colonialism. I argue that Lyle, arguably the novel’s main character, is portrayed as living “authentically” in contrast to the deep inauthenticity of Ferris. I connect Western authentic dwelling with settler-colonial logic, centering my account on the figures of the “lazy” and “magical” “Indian.” Ultimately, I fi…Read more
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