Ontological Whisperings Only, of the Literature of Exception Now entertain conjecture of a time When creeping murmur and the poring dark Fills the wide vessel of the universe. (Henry V, Act 4 Prologue) Can one found a literary theory based on the topographical specificities of the political that Agamben describes in the Homo Sacer project? Thus far there have been few attempts, aside from Lee Spinks essay ‘Except for Law’ which looks at Crime Fiction in relation to the politics of exception. It is perhaps surprising that this has not yet occurred in any concerted fashion. In the first instance, the narrative of Homo Sacer ought to be provocative of fictive narratives: a despised central character who, although the lowest member of society, contains within him the cipher of absolute power and the very continuation of the state as we know it. It has almost the scent of melodrama about it and certainly echoes numerous famous narratives of doubling such as Frankenstein, Caleb Williams,...
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