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 43
Page 2
... respect, the works that are termed 'literary' can change an understanding of genre; their value lies in the ways that they transform the systems of signification that we understand them to be working within. This is a dynamic process in ...
... respect, the works that are termed 'literary' can change an understanding of genre; their value lies in the ways that they transform the systems of signification that we understand them to be working within. This is a dynamic process in ...
Page 4
... respect, the current book might have included American memoirs such as Joan Didion's Where I Was From (2003), Dale Peck's What We Lost: A Story of My Father's Childhood (2003), Mary Karr's The Liars' Club (1994), J. T. Leroy's Sarah ...
... respect, the current book might have included American memoirs such as Joan Didion's Where I Was From (2003), Dale Peck's What We Lost: A Story of My Father's Childhood (2003), Mary Karr's The Liars' Club (1994), J. T. Leroy's Sarah ...
Page 5
... respect the genre might be said to give an account of a process that is necessarily incomplete. The specific age of a fictional character is therefore perhaps not the best guide to that teleological process which is the proper focus of ...
... respect the genre might be said to give an account of a process that is necessarily incomplete. The specific age of a fictional character is therefore perhaps not the best guide to that teleological process which is the proper focus of ...
Page 9
... respect, any attempt to understand the historical circumstances of how the contemporary came to be the way that it is could be interpreted as an origin myth, because all such historical accounts are retrospective narratives of history ...
... respect, any attempt to understand the historical circumstances of how the contemporary came to be the way that it is could be interpreted as an origin myth, because all such historical accounts are retrospective narratives of history ...
Page 10
... respect contemporary coming-of-age novels are novels about knowledge of American history, and that knowledge itself becomes a significant part of the protagonist's coming of age. These contexts and origins become, in turn, the focus of ...
... respect contemporary coming-of-age novels are novels about knowledge of American history, and that knowledge itself becomes a significant part of the protagonist's coming of age. These contexts and origins become, in turn, the focus of ...
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