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 20
... girl at his local mall who appears to be under the control of a man who is not her father. Bone experiences a visceral response to this girl's obvious vulnerability, and he feels a spontaneous desire to rescue her, and thereby exercise ...
... girl at his local mall who appears to be under the control of a man who is not her father. Bone experiences a visceral response to this girl's obvious vulnerability, and he feels a spontaneous desire to rescue her, and thereby exercise ...
Page 24
... girl becomes '[his] personal responsibility now' (160), and Bone recognises that he has 'an obligation'to return her ... girl's guardian at the same narrative moment that he falls under the guardianship of I-Man. This hierarchy of value ...
... girl becomes '[his] personal responsibility now' (160), and Bone recognises that he has 'an obligation'to return her ... girl's guardian at the same narrative moment that he falls under the guardianship of I-Man. This hierarchy of value ...
Page 25
... Girl (1994), the first-person narrative of Portland teenager Andrea Marr, described by the blurb of the Touchstone edition as 'a Catcher in the Rye for the “Grunge” generation'. Andrea's voice is often a breathless rush, and the novel's ...
... Girl (1994), the first-person narrative of Portland teenager Andrea Marr, described by the blurb of the Touchstone edition as 'a Catcher in the Rye for the “Grunge” generation'. Andrea's voice is often a breathless rush, and the novel's ...
Page 26
... girl he has saved from abuse back to her mother in Milwaukee; this is a decision fraught with anxieties that problematise the value of 'home'. Simultaneously, Bone strikes out for the territory in the form of a flight to Jamaica with I ...
... girl he has saved from abuse back to her mother in Milwaukee; this is a decision fraught with anxieties that problematise the value of 'home'. Simultaneously, Bone strikes out for the territory in the form of a flight to Jamaica with I ...
Page 29
... girl (Egan 1977: 21). Structurally situated immediately following the crisis in his relationship with his father and IMan, Bone's retreat to the limestone caves dramatises the most urgent and fundamental revision of his subjectivity in ...
... girl (Egan 1977: 21). Structurally situated immediately following the crisis in his relationship with his father and IMan, Bone's retreat to the limestone caves dramatises the most urgent and fundamental revision of his subjectivity 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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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