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 |
From inside the book
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Page 17
... begins, in the summer that he turns fourteen, with a direct address to the reader which reveals his self-consciousness about the veracity of story-telling: 'You'll probably think I'm making a lot of this up just to make me sound better ...
... begins, in the summer that he turns fourteen, with a direct address to the reader which reveals his self-consciousness about the veracity of story-telling: 'You'll probably think I'm making a lot of this up just to make me sound better ...
Page 18
... begins by claiming that his story is not a tall tale, that 'the truth is more interesting than anything I could make up', and this self-denigrating remark about his ability to fictionalise is a central part of his adolescent voice's ...
... begins by claiming that his story is not a tall tale, that 'the truth is more interesting than anything I could make up', and this self-denigrating remark about his ability to fictionalise is a central part of his adolescent voice's ...
Page 21
... begins once he has escaped from his father. Pap Finn, 'the fond parent', imprisons Huck in a cabin in the woods so that he cannot be adopted by the Widow Douglas. Fearful of the violent attacks of his father, Huck escapes from the cabin ...
... begins once he has escaped from his father. Pap Finn, 'the fond parent', imprisons Huck in a cabin in the woods so that he cannot be adopted by the Widow Douglas. Fearful of the violent attacks of his father, Huck escapes from the cabin ...
Page 24
... begins to learn new forms of knowledge that foster a sense of self-respect and a sense of his place in the world beyond solipsistic melancholy. Equally importantly, in terms of the narrative, at the same moment that Bone becomes a son ...
... begins to learn new forms of knowledge that foster a sense of self-respect and a sense of his place in the world beyond solipsistic melancholy. Equally importantly, in terms of the narrative, at the same moment that Bone becomes a son ...
Page 32
... begins. This traumatic opening invites comparison with another novel included here, Geoffrey Wolff's The Age of Consent, in which Maisie Jenks spends three months in a coma following her dramatic suicide attempt. Both novels begin with ...
... begins. This traumatic opening invites comparison with another novel included here, Geoffrey Wolff's The Age of Consent, in which Maisie Jenks spends three months in a coma following her dramatic suicide attempt. Both novels begin with ...
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