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 7
... called 'The Dialectic of Initiation in America', he argued that, 'But if American Innocence means anything, it must mean just this: that every generation, native or foreignborn, began its task anew despite the secret betrayals of ...
... called 'The Dialectic of Initiation in America', he argued that, 'But if American Innocence means anything, it must mean just this: that every generation, native or foreignborn, began its task anew despite the secret betrayals of ...
Page 16
... called Huckleberry Finn' (Hemingway 1936: 29), Harold Beaver argued that it is 'the most consistently provocative bestseller, over a hundred years, that any American writer has ever produced' (Beaver 1987: Preface), and Peter Messent ...
... called Huckleberry Finn' (Hemingway 1936: 29), Harold Beaver argued that it is 'the most consistently provocative bestseller, over a hundred years, that any American writer has ever produced' (Beaver 1987: Preface), and Peter Messent ...
Page 23
... called 'stretchers', when Bone tells a fellow passenger on the bus that he is 'an ancient type of wandering Jew' (113). But the form of Bone's metamorphoses, and the structure of his coming of age, is different from Huck's; where Huck ...
... called 'stretchers', when Bone tells a fellow passenger on the bus that he is 'an ancient type of wandering Jew' (113). But the form of Bone's metamorphoses, and the structure of his coming of age, is different from Huck's; where Huck ...
Page 24
... called 'School Days' because it is the period of Bone's real education, and one with a strongly religious inflection. I-Man's different conception of God also appeals to Bone, because it is based on the principle of giving thanks, and ...
... called 'School Days' because it is the period of Bone's real education, and one with a strongly religious inflection. I-Man's different conception of God also appeals to Bone, because it is based on the principle of giving thanks, and ...
Page 32
... called Saint Divine's. Edgar's origins are to some extent a contemporary interpretation of the cowboy and Indian story: his father was an easterner who foolishly aspired to the myth of the cowboy that he learned 32 Coming of Age in ...
... called Saint Divine's. Edgar's origins are to some extent a contemporary interpretation of the cowboy and Indian story: his father was an easterner who foolishly aspired to the myth of the cowboy that he learned 32 Coming of Age in ...
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