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 79
Page
... Father Russell Banks, Rule of the Bone Brady Udall, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint 2 I Change Therefore I Am: Growing up in the Sixties Geoffrey Wolff, The Age of Consent Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land 3 Citation and Resuscitation ...
... Father Russell Banks, Rule of the Bone Brady Udall, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint 2 I Change Therefore I Am: Growing up in the Sixties Geoffrey Wolff, The Age of Consent Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land 3 Citation and Resuscitation ...
Page 4
... Father's Childhood (2003), Mary Karr's The Liars' Club (1994), J. T. Leroy's Sarah (2000) and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (2001), and Rick Moody's The Black Veil (2002). These works' representations of subjectivity, or ...
... Father's Childhood (2003), Mary Karr's The Liars' Club (1994), J. T. Leroy's Sarah (2000) and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (2001), and Rick Moody's The Black Veil (2002). These works' representations of subjectivity, or ...
Page 14
... simply temporary American fiction, and to identify those works which are not simply great coming-of-age novels, but great American novels. Chapter 1 In the Name of the Father An important 14 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
... simply temporary American fiction, and to identify those works which are not simply great coming-of-age novels, but great American novels. Chapter 1 In the Name of the Father An important 14 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
Page 15
... father. For the young male protagonist especially, the relation to the father is a vital means to socialisation, and he is often the principal figure through whom the codes of society are learned. Coming of age is thus a drama of coming ...
... father. For the young male protagonist especially, the relation to the father is a vital means to socialisation, and he is often the principal figure through whom the codes of society are learned. Coming of age is thus a drama of coming ...
Page 16
... father, the fact that he is technically 'dead' throughout the novel, his association with Judge Thatcher and the Widow Douglas, his perilous journey, the characters that he meets en route, and the fact that he is aiding a runaway slave ...
... father, the fact that he is technically 'dead' throughout the novel, his association with Judge Thatcher and the Widow Douglas, his perilous journey, the characters that he meets en route, and the fact that he is aiding a runaway slave ...
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