The Politics of Kathy Acker: Revolution and the Avant-Garde

Exploring revolutionary politics in the work of one of America’s most important avant-garde writers

Key Features

Situates Acker in broader social, political and historical contexts Offers an extensive analysis of the intersections between politics and literary form, asserting Acker’s pivotal position in the avant-garde tradition in the twentieth century Opens Acker’s texts to a range of theory and makes links between literature and other disciplines

This study brings the radicalism of Acker’s politics back to life. Moving beyond conventional accounts of her postmodernism, it explores her work as a continuation of the historical avant-garde and examines how she took moments and movements from modern history, including Russian nihilism, Spanish anarchism and the global revolts of the 1960s, to create her own political agenda. In doing so, it presents Acker in a new light: a revolutionary voice in an age when such voices are sorely needed.