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June 2016 Vol. 53 No. 10

McClennen (international affairs and comparative literature, Penn State) and Moore (English and women's and gender studies, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro) have put together a deep, varied volume.  The 47 essays are divided into four parts—"Subjects," "Forms," "Contexts," and "Impacts"—but each of the essays can stand on its own.  Noteworthy in this regard are “In Flight: The Refugee Experience and Human Rights Narrative,” by Eleni Coundouriotis; “#NotABugSplat: Becoming Human on the Terrain of Visual Culture,” by Keith Feldman; “Violence, Indigeneities, and Human Rights,” by Arturo Arias; and “Is the Age of Human Rights Over?” by Makau Mutua.  That said, the combination and organization of the essays is special.  The contributors offer nuanced analyses of works of literature and human rights subjects, and they do not all share the same perspective; indeed, this is one of the book’s strengths.  As the editors explain in their introduction, “The concept of human rights is at once an idea, a set of discursive norms, a legal practice, and a political claim; it attaches to a sense of community and to the construction of the victimized other; and it depends on storytelling and on practical political advocacy."  A valuable resource for those interested in the intersection of literature and human rights.

--K. Sorensen, Bentley University

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.