Spectres of Pessimism

The book keeps its promise to outline diverse strands of pessimism and goes on to show how these strands are irrevocably interwoven in cultural production, such as literary texts and films. Each chapter provides convincing and nuanced readings of these cultural texts and enriches each analysis with substantial theoretical, philosophical, and historical contexts. Writing concisely and clearly, Schmitt succeeds in proving the great extent to which pessimism is an integral part of contemporary society . (Dilâra Yilmaz, Journal for the Study of British Cultures, Vol. 31 (1), 2024)

Over recent years I have read many books on utopianism, and this is quite simply one of the best. A very thoughtful and wide-ranging critical engagement with utopianism in the context of pessimism. Spectres of Pessimism has a great deal of interesting things to say about the topic and will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the production of further work in utopian studies. Highly recommended. (John Storey, Utopian Studies, Vol. 35 (1), 2024)

Schmitt makes a strong case for the various ways in which pessimism may allow us to overcome our anthropocentric preoccupations. This makes his book paradoxically optimistic: By inviting the reader to imagine a ' world-without-us' instead of a ' world- for-us, ' he offers pessimism ' as a corrective to overly optimistic inflections of cultural studies' suggesting that there is in fact a future to behold . Schmitt s book suggests a future path for cultural studies . (Wieland Schwanebeck, MEDIENwissenschaft, Issue 3, 2023)

The author presents theoretical discussion of a pessimistic future for humanity and also reviews imaginative work in novels and lms which explore these areas of experience. Dystopian art forms are, Schmitt shows, strongly present and in uential in contemporary culture. the theoretical ideas presented andthe related examples of dystopian literature and cinema set out a signi cant eld of contemporary work, which calls for attention in these hard times. (Michael Rustin, The Political Quarterly, July 10, 2023)