Neira, H. 2013. La modesta proposición biopolítica de Jonathan Swift Cinta moebio 46: 47-58

PDF | HTML

Jonathan Swift’s modest biopolitical proposal

Dr. Hernán Neira (hernan.neira@usach.cl) Departamento de Filosofía, Universidad de Santiago (Santiago, Chile)

Abstract

Twentieth century criticism has pointed out that many of Jonathan Swift´s works are linked with Irish conditions as well as some theories, which have remained particularly obscure for many literary investigations, in spite of the fact that they might be the key to a better understanding of the Irish author. Remarkable scholars noticed three main theoretical fields: economical, scientific and philosophical/linguistic. In the following pages, we will take into account some recent works on Swift in order to point out how A Modest Proposal develops its satiric energy from a hesitating biopolitics, which criticises modernity and some of its knowledge, and also casts some light on human being’s contemporary condition.

Keywords: Jonathan Swift, biopolitics, A Modest Proposal, Foucault, political economy, anthropophagy, mercantilism.