Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Ali Smith's necessary-contingent, or navigating the global. / Evans, Joel Christopher.
In: Textual Practice, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2018, p. 629-648.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Ali Smith's necessary-contingent, or navigating the global
AU - Evans, Joel Christopher
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This essay begins by tracking down the various interplays between necessity and contingency to be found in two of Ali Smith’s novels: The Accidental (2005) and There but for the (2012). As a result of these interplays, it will be suggested that Smith’s novels produce a distinct concept, which is named the necessary-contingent. In fact, there are two versions of this concept, one to be found in The Accidental, and the other in There but for the. Firstly, the discussion will distinguish each variant, and articulate the philosophical, political and intertextual resonances and parallels on display respectively. Thus, we can establish more fully the implications of the concept generated by Smith’s works. Secondly, the essay will seek to establish how the concept of the necessary-contingent is put to work in each novel. The arena where we find a concrete application for the concept, I will argue, is that of global space, and the individual’s relation to it in the era of contemporary capitalism. Both novels, I suggest, produce a recognisable ethics of movement, which addresses not only some of the key issues surrounding so-called globalisation, but also demonstrates a further application of the concept extracted from Smith’s work.
AB - This essay begins by tracking down the various interplays between necessity and contingency to be found in two of Ali Smith’s novels: The Accidental (2005) and There but for the (2012). As a result of these interplays, it will be suggested that Smith’s novels produce a distinct concept, which is named the necessary-contingent. In fact, there are two versions of this concept, one to be found in The Accidental, and the other in There but for the. Firstly, the discussion will distinguish each variant, and articulate the philosophical, political and intertextual resonances and parallels on display respectively. Thus, we can establish more fully the implications of the concept generated by Smith’s works. Secondly, the essay will seek to establish how the concept of the necessary-contingent is put to work in each novel. The arena where we find a concrete application for the concept, I will argue, is that of global space, and the individual’s relation to it in the era of contemporary capitalism. Both novels, I suggest, produce a recognisable ethics of movement, which addresses not only some of the key issues surrounding so-called globalisation, but also demonstrates a further application of the concept extracted from Smith’s work.
KW - Ali Smith
KW - Quentin Meillassoux
KW - contingency
KW - global
KW - borders
KW - security
KW - cosmopolitanism
U2 - 10.1080/0950236X.2016.1256345
DO - 10.1080/0950236X.2016.1256345
M3 - Journal article
VL - 32
SP - 629
EP - 648
JO - Textual Practice
JF - Textual Practice
SN - 0950-236X
IS - 4
ER -