Care for trapped things: literature and the critique of insurance

The thesis conducts a materialist analysis of 20th and 21st century literature and cinema in relation to the history of insurance practices. It begins with an introduction that examines the key elements of what François Ewald has called the “insurantial imaginary." This introduction serves to establish what is at stake in the thesis as a whole, and establishes key theoretical reference points such as Marx and the Frankfurt School. Following this, I consider Canadian poet M. NourbeSe Philip's long poem Zong! in relation to the history of transatlantic slavery, maritime insurance and contemporary North American mass incarceration. Chapter 2 examines the Austrian poet Ingeborg Bachmann in relation to the post-war economic miracle in Germany and Austria. Chapter 3 examines the cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini in relation to Italian fascism, social security and shifting conceptions of risk. The final chapter examines the poetry of the British poet Sean Bonney in relation to austerity policies in the UK and the withdrawal of welfare in response to the 2008 financial crisis. The thesis concludes with a coda that reviews its key findings and reflects on the relationship between historical struggle and concept formation.