Slow Violence of Toxicity in Glister by John Burnside
Slow Violence of Toxicity in Glister by John Burnside

Author(s): Derya Biderci Dinç
Subject(s): British Literature
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Slow Violence; toxicity; glister; John Burnside;
Summary/Abstract: Glister (2008) by John Burnside is one of the contemporary fictions that exemplifies toxic life under the threat of chemical exposure. Burnside dealt with exposure to invisible toxicants and the environmental and social threats of toxicity. In doing this, the writer depicted the interrelated nature of environmental and social injustice by reflecting the ongoing relationship between environmental degradation and class division. This article explores industrial toxicity in Glister through the lens of Rob Nixon’s concept of slow violence, which has contributed to shaping an interdisciplinary discourse that explores toxic legacies. The article’s main concern is to examine how the toxicity sets a course towards slow violence in the fictional post-industrial town, Innertown, in which social and environmental lives have been intertwined.

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