National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City
This article analyzes Teju Cole’s Open City as a political novel, arguing that Open City functions as a national allegory critical of the United States. This stance is facilitated by its portrayal of the protagonist Julius as suffering not a dissociative fugue but a dissociative amnesia, which I arr...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Association for American Studies
2024-06-01
|
| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22112 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841558306549661696 |
|---|---|
| author | Derek F. DiMatteo |
| author_facet | Derek F. DiMatteo |
| author_sort | Derek F. DiMatteo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyzes Teju Cole’s Open City as a political novel, arguing that Open City functions as a national allegory critical of the United States. This stance is facilitated by its portrayal of the protagonist Julius as suffering not a dissociative fugue but a dissociative amnesia, which I arrive at by using the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) V and a rereading of Ian Hacking to revise prior interpretations of Julius as flâneur-fugueur. Drawing on the work of Fredric Jameson, I read Julius’s amnesia-like repression of his past crimes as allegorical of his adopted nation, the USA, which tends to forget its responsibility for its own historical injustices. By selectively forgetting these injustices and traumas—even as they happen—the USA behaves with the same dissociative amnesia as Julius. Open City reflects the psychopathology of the USA on the scale of the individual and the city. Within the palimpsests of history scattered materially throughout Manhattan (and within the repressed memories of society and the individual) resides the location of national allegory in Open City. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3281a2e17c53430d8a7c061abe63dbd8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-3281a2e17c53430d8a7c061abe63dbd82025-01-06T09:07:49ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362024-06-01192National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open CityDerek F. DiMatteoThis article analyzes Teju Cole’s Open City as a political novel, arguing that Open City functions as a national allegory critical of the United States. This stance is facilitated by its portrayal of the protagonist Julius as suffering not a dissociative fugue but a dissociative amnesia, which I arrive at by using the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) V and a rereading of Ian Hacking to revise prior interpretations of Julius as flâneur-fugueur. Drawing on the work of Fredric Jameson, I read Julius’s amnesia-like repression of his past crimes as allegorical of his adopted nation, the USA, which tends to forget its responsibility for its own historical injustices. By selectively forgetting these injustices and traumas—even as they happen—the USA behaves with the same dissociative amnesia as Julius. Open City reflects the psychopathology of the USA on the scale of the individual and the city. Within the palimpsests of history scattered materially throughout Manhattan (and within the repressed memories of society and the individual) resides the location of national allegory in Open City.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22112Fredric JamesonUnited StatesTeju ColeOpen Citynational allegorydissociative amnesia |
| spellingShingle | Derek F. DiMatteo National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City European Journal of American Studies Fredric Jameson United States Teju Cole Open City national allegory dissociative amnesia |
| title | National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City |
| title_full | National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City |
| title_fullStr | National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City |
| title_full_unstemmed | National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City |
| title_short | National Allegory in Teju Cole’s Open City |
| title_sort | national allegory in teju cole s open city |
| topic | Fredric Jameson United States Teju Cole Open City national allegory dissociative amnesia |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/22112 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT derekfdimatteo nationalallegoryintejucolesopencity |