C O N T E M P O R A R Y T F I R D M, GENR ET,H HEI SPTROORBILCEIMS AND THE PRESENT OF THEODORE MARTIN CONTEMPORARY DRIFT LITERATURE NOW Literature Now Matthew Hart, David James, and Rebecca L. Walkowitz, Series Editors Literature Now off ers a distinct vision of late-twentieth- and early- twenty-fi rst-century literary culture. Addressing contemporary literature and the ways we understand its meaning, the series includes books that are comparative and transnational in scope as well as those that focus on national and regional literary cultures. Caren Irr, T oward the Geopolitical Novel: U.S. Fiction in the Twenty-First Century Heather Houser, E cosickness in Contemporary U.S. Fiction: Environment and Aff ect Mrinalini Chakravorty, I n Stereotype: South Asia in the Global Literary Imaginary Héctor Hoyos, B eyond Bolaño: Th e Global Latin American Novel Rebecca L. Walkowitz, Born Translated: Th e Contemporary Novel in an Age of World Literature Carol Jacobs, S ebald’s Vision Sarah Phillips Casteel, Calypso Jews: Jewishness in the Caribbean Literary Imagination Jeremy Rosen, M inor Characters Have Th eir Day: Genre and the Contemporary Literary Marketplace Jesse Matz, L asting Impressions: Th e Legacies of Impressionism in Contemporary Culture Ashley T. Shelden, U nmaking Love: Th e Contemporary Novel and the Impossibility of Union Contemporary Drift GENRE, HISTORICISM, AND THE PROBLEM OF THE PRESENT Theodore Martin Columbia University Press New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press All rights reserved ISBN 978-0-231-18192-1 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-231-54389-7 (e-book) Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on fi le at the Library of Congress. Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America Cover design: Kimberly Glyder Seventeen years later, this book is dedicated to the memory of my dad. CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION: Theses on the Concept of the Contemporary 1 1 DECADE: Period Pieces 24 2 REVIVAL: Situating Noir 57 3 WAITING: Mysterious Circumstances 93 4 WEATHER: Western Climes 124 5 SURVIVAL: Work and Plague 161 CONCLUSION: How to Historicize the Present 195 Notes 199 Bibliography 227 Index 241 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Given the many years that have gone into writing it, C ontemporary Drift is, in a certain sense, not very contemporary. Th at’s fi ne by me. For how else would I have had the time to benefi t from the good sense, great intel- ligence, and endless generosity of so many friends, teachers, and colleagues over the years? Above all, this book owes an immeasurable debt to Colleen Lye and Kent Puckett, who have looked out for me since the very fi rst day I set foot at Berkeley. I could not have completed this project without the immense and implausible amount of faith they’ve shown in it, and still less without the towering intellectual and scholarly example they set. Stephen Best and Carol Clover were equally indispensable guides to working through many of the ideas that would form the foundation for this book. Th e early days of developing this project were survived with no little help from Jasper Bernes, Erin Beeghly, Ben Boudreaux, Natalia Cecire, Chris Chen, Amanda Goldstein, Tim Kreiner, Cody Marrs, Swati Rana, and Jill Richards. At the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, it was my absurd good for- tune to have Jane Gallop, Richard Grusin, and Jason Puskar as generous mentors as well as cherished friends. My wonderful colleagues in English made UWM a lively, supportive, and collegial place to work and write. I owe a special thanks to department chairs Liam Callanan and Mark Net- zloff , who off ered extensive support both institutionally and personally.