Zitationsvorschlag
Lizenz (Kapitel)
Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International.
Identifier (Buch)
Veröffentlicht
The Implicated Poetics of Social Reproduction and Neoliberal Diversity: Natasha Brown’s Assembly
ABSTRACT By reading Assembly alongside Michael Rothberg’s The Implicated Subject as well as Nancy Fraser’s Cannibal Capitalism, this chapter explores how Natasha Brown’s debut novel negotiates the implication of social reproduction and neoliberal diversity against the backdrop of precarious care in ongoing racial capitalism. If the complex subject position of the novel’s female Black British protagonist—who has worked herself into the one per cent and serves as an avatar for diversity management while at the same time continually experiencing sexualised and racialised discrimination—foregoes the dichotomy of victims and perpetrators and instead fosters “long-distance solidarity” (Rothberg 2019, 12), the text’s juxtaposition of its different vignettes underlines the complex interplay between diachronic and synchronic forms of implication in the highly condensed form of just 100 pages. Assembly not only illustrates the complex structural relationship between social reproduction, diversity management, and individualising storytelling but also invites reflections on metaphorical readings of cancer while at the same time raising awareness of the potential implication of narrative and language in upholding systemic injustice.
KEYWORDS Assembly, implication, social reproduction, health disparities, cancer as metaphor
