Coming of Age in Contemporary American FictionEdinburgh University Press, 2007 M04 18 - 200 pages This book explores the ways in which a range of recent American novelists have handled the genre of the 'coming-of-age' novel, or the Bildungsroman. Novels of this genre characteristically dramatise the vicissitudes of growing up and the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, often presented through depictions of immediate family relationships and other social structures. This book considers a variety of different American cultures (in terms of race, class and gender) and a range of contemporary coming-of-age novels, so that aesthetic judgements about the fiction might be made in the context of the social history that fiction represents. A series of questions are asked:* Does the coming-of-age moment in these novels coincide with an interpretation of the 'fall' of America?* What kind of national commentary does it therefore facilitate?* Is the Bildungsroman a quintessentially American genre?* What can it usefully tell us about contemporary American culture? Although the focus is on the conte |
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... becomes of little boys, who run away from home/The world just keeps getting bigger, once you get out on your own'), to Caroline ('Don't tell me not to fly/ I simply must/ Don't bring around a cloud/To rain on my parade'), and to Simon ...
... becomes of little boys, who run away from home/The world just keeps getting bigger, once you get out on your own'), to Caroline ('Don't tell me not to fly/ I simply must/ Don't bring around a cloud/To rain on my parade'), and to Simon ...
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... becomes the moment from which its independent identity began to take shape, and therefore it defines the terms and conditions of coming of age. To some extent this mythology has been abstracted and idealised independently of the ...
... becomes the moment from which its independent identity began to take shape, and therefore it defines the terms and conditions of coming of age. To some extent this mythology has been abstracted and idealised independently of the ...
Page 10
... becomes a significant part of the protagonist's coming of age. These contexts and origins become, in turn, the focus of the novel's social critique; they are the history with which the individual must come to terms, and it is here that ...
... becomes a significant part of the protagonist's coming of age. These contexts and origins become, in turn, the focus of the novel's social critique; they are the history with which the individual must come to terms, and it is here that ...
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... becomes 'an identity defined solely by and for the adults who, in a variety of ways, invest in it and use it to ... become an idealised fictional category which literary writers can use to give a particular urgency to representations of ...
... becomes 'an identity defined solely by and for the adults who, in a variety of ways, invest in it and use it to ... become an idealised fictional category which literary writers can use to give a particular urgency to representations of ...
Page 16
... becomes increasingly empowered to address the trauma that initiated his story. In both cases, moving forward is a means of attaining a position from which the beginning can be fully understood and articulated. This cyclical structure is ...
... becomes increasingly empowered to address the trauma that initiated his story. In both cases, moving forward is a means of attaining a position from which the beginning can be fully understood and articulated. This cyclical structure is ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
Growing up in the Sixties | 46 |
Chapter 3 Citation and Resuscitation | 72 |
Life Sentences | 98 |
Chapter 5 Lexicon of Love | 130 |
6 Memoirs and Memorials | 154 |
Conclusion | 181 |
Bibliography | 183 |
Index | 189 |
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adolescence adult aesthetic American argued attempt attention authority becomes begins believes Bone Bone’s called challenges chapter characterised characters child childhood circumstances closely coming of age coming-of-age contemporary critical crucial culture death defined depiction desire dramatises Edgar especially example experience expression father feel fiction final Fishboy further genre girls gives growing idea identity important innocence integral interest interpretation issue kind knowledge language linguistic Lisbon Lucille Lucille’s Maisie male means metafiction Mona Mona’s moral mother narrative narrator nature never novel origin parents particular partly past Phillip politics protagonist Prozac Nation Purple question reader reading recognise relationship respect response Ruth scene sense significant simply simultaneously social society speak specific story structure subjectivity suicide symbolic takes tell things understanding United voice women writing young