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 35
Page
... simply must/ Don't bring around a cloud/To rain on my parade'), and to Simon: 'Bite on a bullet/And spit out a limousine'. K. Millard Edinburgh, Scotland Introduction: Contemporary Coming of Age – Subject to Change 'The Acknowledgements.
... simply must/ Don't bring around a cloud/To rain on my parade'), and to Simon: 'Bite on a bullet/And spit out a limousine'. K. Millard Edinburgh, Scotland Introduction: Contemporary Coming of Age – Subject to Change 'The Acknowledgements.
Page 1
... simply 'genre fiction', or of works that are innovative and experimental in the ways that they negotiate that contract with their genre. These works problematise the Introduction: Contemporary Coming of Age – Subject to Change.
... simply 'genre fiction', or of works that are innovative and experimental in the ways that they negotiate that contract with their genre. These works problematise the Introduction: Contemporary Coming of Age – Subject to Change.
Page 8
... simply strong and beautiful, so important in our total culture. (Fiedler 1955: 193) For Fiedler, the constant return to beginnings is a part of a disproportionate faith in the new which is also debilitating, and he continues: 'The ...
... simply strong and beautiful, so important in our total culture. (Fiedler 1955: 193) For Fiedler, the constant return to beginnings is a part of a disproportionate faith in the new which is also debilitating, and he continues: 'The ...
Page 11
... simply an American Adam 'an individual emancipated from history, happily bereft of history, untouched and undefined by the usual inheritances of family and race' (Lewis 1955: 5), but a character who comes of age specifically by ...
... simply an American Adam 'an individual emancipated from history, happily bereft of history, untouched and undefined by the usual inheritances of family and race' (Lewis 1955: 5), but a character who comes of age specifically by ...
Page 12
... simply another form of teenage affectation, or has teenaged affectation itself taken new and worrying forms of expression? There is a wealth of analysis of these questions from a variety of perspectives, among them James Milner's Freaks ...
... simply another form of teenage affectation, or has teenaged affectation itself taken new and worrying forms of expression? There is a wealth of analysis of these questions from a variety of perspectives, among them James Milner's Freaks ...
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