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
Kenneth Millard. manifestation of a bogus nostalgia which encourages the veneration of an idealised past that probably never existed in the first place. Such nostalgia has a specific political ideology, a deeply conservative one, which ...
Kenneth Millard. manifestation of a bogus nostalgia which encourages the veneration of an idealised past that probably never existed in the first place. Such nostalgia has a specific political ideology, a deeply conservative one, which ...
Page 9
... past and no founding truth' (Baudrillard 1988: 76). The novels included here refute that perception in their various attempts to locate the origin of the contemporary. The novels themselves are often very self-conscious about their ...
... past and no founding truth' (Baudrillard 1988: 76). The novels included here refute that perception in their various attempts to locate the origin of the contemporary. The novels themselves are often very self-conscious about their ...
Page 12
... past twenty-five years' (Finnegan 1999: xvii). There has been a considerable amount of commentary on the kind of anomie, ennui, or postmodern despair that Curnutt and Finnegan detect among contemporary adolescents. In particular, many ...
... past twenty-five years' (Finnegan 1999: xvii). There has been a considerable amount of commentary on the kind of anomie, ennui, or postmodern despair that Curnutt and Finnegan detect among contemporary adolescents. In particular, many ...
Page 13
... past. Successive generations of readers revalue the canon, and reassess what is most important about canonical works. This is an inevitable and inescapable process of reading in history. In this respect, two notable collections of ...
... past. Successive generations of readers revalue the canon, and reassess what is most important about canonical works. This is an inevitable and inescapable process of reading in history. In this respect, two notable collections of ...
Page 14
... past, and to show the value to the contemporary moment of literary paradigms that are antecedent to it. In these ways, this book hopes to promote contemporary American fiction which is not simply temporary American fiction, and to ...
... past, and to show the value to the contemporary moment of literary paradigms that are antecedent to it. In these ways, this book hopes to promote contemporary American fiction which is not simply temporary American fiction, and to ...
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