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
Results 1-5 of 47
Page 2
... child, his distance from other boys, his greater sensitivity to suffering, and his awareness of social hypocrisies' (Buckley 1974: 15). For Buckley these conventions also enable us 2 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
... child, his distance from other boys, his greater sensitivity to suffering, and his awareness of social hypocrisies' (Buckley 1974: 15). For Buckley these conventions also enable us 2 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
Page 15
... children. In this respect it is important to recognise the association between movement and reincarnation in both of these novels. The narratives are structured in terms of a sequence of resurrections whereby the central protagonist ...
... children. In this respect it is important to recognise the association between movement and reincarnation in both of these novels. The narratives are structured in terms of a sequence of resurrections whereby the central protagonist ...
Page 16
... children's classic and simultaneously the subject of a great deal of sophisticated academic criticism. That voice combines statements of the boy's inarticulacy and the necessary limits of his knowledge with a shrewd and discerning ...
... children's classic and simultaneously the subject of a great deal of sophisticated academic criticism. That voice combines statements of the boy's inarticulacy and the necessary limits of his knowledge with a shrewd and discerning ...
Page 18
... child, and this is perhaps a significant contributory feature of that 'lonesomeness' which has an important bearing on crucial stages of his development. The indifference of Bone's parents, and their inability to cope with his ...
... child, and this is perhaps a significant contributory feature of that 'lonesomeness' which has an important bearing on crucial stages of his development. The indifference of Bone's parents, and their inability to cope with his ...
Page 20
... children who are younger than himself. Bone can identify with her vulnerability, and he expresses it in a powerful image which also reveals his psychological acuity: 'I felt like I was baking in the sun with all the attention he was ...
... children who are younger than himself. Bone can identify with her vulnerability, and he expresses it in a powerful image which also reveals his psychological acuity: 'I felt like I was baking in the sun with all the attention he was ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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