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 55
Page 1
... reader so as to make certain relevant expectations operative, and thus to permit both compliance with and deviation from accepted modes of intelligibility' (Culler 1975: 147). It is necessary to interpret a text in terms of its genre in ...
... reader so as to make certain relevant expectations operative, and thus to permit both compliance with and deviation from accepted modes of intelligibility' (Culler 1975: 147). It is necessary to interpret a text in terms of its genre in ...
Page 13
... 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 essays on The Catcher in the Rye were ...
... 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 essays on The Catcher in the Rye were ...
Page 16
... reader like a boy, the predicament in which he finds himself and the nature of the journey he is committed to give his adventures an urgent adult dimension that goes to the heart of the structures of his culture. Huck's relationship ...
... reader like a boy, the predicament in which he finds himself and the nature of the journey he is committed to give his adventures an urgent adult dimension that goes to the heart of the structures of his culture. Huck's relationship ...
Page 17
... reader which reveals his self-consciousness about the veracity of story-telling: 'You'll probably think I'm making a lot of this up just to make me sound better than I really am or smarter or even luckier but I'm not' (Banks 1996: 1) ...
... reader which reveals his self-consciousness about the veracity of story-telling: 'You'll probably think I'm making a lot of this up just to make me sound better than I really am or smarter or even luckier but I'm not' (Banks 1996: 1) ...
Page 18
... reader, in which he disarms our expectations by disavowing 'all that David Copperfield kind of crap', and by insisting that conventions must be abandoned 'if you want to know the truth'. This is a particular form of appeal to the reader's ...
... reader, in which he disarms our expectations by disavowing 'all that David Copperfield kind of crap', and by insisting that conventions must be abandoned 'if you want to know the truth'. This is a particular form of appeal to the reader's ...
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