Questionable ends: Reflections on the sublime in contemporary culture (Jane Austen, Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley)

There is a feeling inside and outside of the academy that human values are being eroded. Within the Humanities this concern focuses on the status of art; outside of the academy it takes forms such as an apprehension of technology and a fear of terrorism. The response is often to reassert the transcendence of culture, the sanctity of human life, and the unity of human community. However, the value of these concepts comes from their future potential, which is compromised when they are used to secure the present. I use the aesthetic of the sublime to lay out the relation between ideas, futurity, and the present, focusing on the way the sublime assigns value based on intuitive feelings that something is important, while maintaining a distinction between the universality of the feeling and the particular instance that generated the feeling.; Drawing on aesthetic theory of the sublime as articulated by Kant, Derrida, and Lyotard, I contend that the sublime is important because it critiques a political belief in ends. Literature and film that draws the stability of ends into question by highlighting the contingent nature of realism forms the basis of my investigation, including Ann Radcliffe's gothic novels, science fiction from Mary Shelley's The Last Man to Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, and Tom Clancy's political fantasy novels. I locate this tension between aesthetics and politics in feminist literary theory's appropriation of the gothic, representations of technology in philosophy and science fiction, current debates over specific technological innovations such as cloning, as well as in the range of discourses on terrorism in popular culture, scholarly research and governmental analysis.; The sublime deals directly with the crisis such a structure of judgment creates by highlighting an ethical dilemma: while responsibility to both the future and the present may be unreconcilable, the choice of one over the other is also irresponsible. Each chapter consists of reflections, as opposed to programs, as the sublime does not replace politics. Ultimately, the sublime emphasizes the price paid for a security that is gained by excluding a space dedicated to questioning ends.