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 1
... social change, even while they are simultaneously the products of an adult social culture that shapes their development. This is a dynamic relationship between the individual and society, and it has some parallels in the study of ...
... social change, even while they are simultaneously the products of an adult social culture that shapes their development. This is a dynamic relationship between the individual and society, and it has some parallels in the study of ...
Page 2
... social structures and institutions to which they find themselves heir, and thereby in some senses change society. The word 'genre' comes from the Latin 'genus', meaning family; it might be argued that each adolescent grows up to ...
... social structures and institutions to which they find themselves heir, and thereby in some senses change society. The word 'genre' comes from the Latin 'genus', meaning family; it might be argued that each adolescent grows up to ...
Page 5
... social experience does it encounter, and what kind of maturity might it be said to achieve? These questions are especially important because innocence has a particular resonance in the context of American national mythology. For example ...
... social experience does it encounter, and what kind of maturity might it be said to achieve? These questions are especially important because innocence has a particular resonance in the context of American national mythology. For example ...
Page 12
... social position, their perceptions of a dynamic and mutable society, and the predicament of young individuals who are in the process of being socialised by its challenges. In this respect 'innocence' is an 12 Coming of Age in ...
... social position, their perceptions of a dynamic and mutable society, and the predicament of young individuals who are in the process of being socialised by its challenges. In this respect 'innocence' is an 12 Coming of Age in ...
Page 13
... social critique. As Neil Campbell expresses it, 'central to the signification of youth has always been the search for empowerment from this position of subordination and alienation and from an adultdefined set of social norms which ...
... social critique. As Neil Campbell expresses it, 'central to the signification of youth has always been the search for empowerment from this position of subordination and alienation and from an adultdefined set of social norms which ...
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