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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Page 22
... the past, and the tattoo gives fresh impetus to his new sense of the liberating potential of a different future. Bone's retreat to the summerhouse marks the final stage 22 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
... the past, and the tattoo gives fresh impetus to his new sense of the liberating potential of a different future. Bone's retreat to the summerhouse marks the final stage 22 Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction.
Page 23
Kenneth Millard. future. Bone's retreat to the summerhouse marks the final stage in this radical revision of his sense of identity. This episode is again characterised by a process of violent erasure that prepares the ground for a sense ...
Kenneth Millard. future. Bone's retreat to the summerhouse marks the final stage in this radical revision of his sense of identity. This episode is again characterised by a process of violent erasure that prepares the ground for a sense ...
Page 28
... final remove, from Montego Bay to backcountry Jamaica, where the novel's depiction of Bone's coming of age takes its final symbolic form. Several critics have commented on the importance of the use of caves in Mark Twain's fiction ...
... final remove, from Montego Bay to backcountry Jamaica, where the novel's depiction of Bone's coming of age takes its final symbolic form. Several critics have commented on the importance of the use of caves in Mark Twain's fiction ...
Page 30
... final symbolic departure is concurrent with his abandonment of the textual conception of childhood innocence that he had previously found comfort in: 'No one in his right mind would want to stay a kid forever. Certainly not me' (387) ...
... final symbolic departure is concurrent with his abandonment of the textual conception of childhood innocence that he had previously found comfort in: 'No one in his right mind would want to stay a kid forever. Certainly not me' (387) ...
Page 34
... final page: 'At eighteen Edgar got his driver's license' (417). The temporal interpretation of Edgar's use of this device is confirmed by this final retrospective use of the third person 'Edgar'; the novel's last few pages, written when ...
... final page: 'At eighteen Edgar got his driver's license' (417). The temporal interpretation of Edgar's use of this device is confirmed by this final retrospective use of the third person 'Edgar'; the novel's last few pages, written when ...
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