Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction

Kenneth Millard

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2007

Coming of Age in Contemporary American Fiction

Kenneth Millard

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748629541

Overview
Contents

About this book

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 contemporary period, this is placed in the context of reference to earlier novels and criticism of the genre, as well as historical changes in the status of the family, and the adolescent within it.

Key Features

Provides detailed interpretations of 12 key contemporary novels from authors including Purple America by Rick Moody, The Age of Consent by Geoffrey Wolff, The Virgin Suicides by Jefffrey Eugenides and Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel.
Explains the importance of the coming-of-age genre to the broader American literature canon.
Makes a significant intervention in contemporary debate about what is most valuable in recent American fiction.

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Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Introduction: Contemporary Coming of Age – Subject to Change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 In the Name of the Father Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
Chapter 2 I Change Therefore I Am: Growing up in the Sixties Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
Chapter 3 Citation and Resuscitation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
Chapter 4 Language Acquisition: Life Sentences Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
Chapter 5 Lexicon of Love Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
Chapter 6 Memoirs and Memorials Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 200
Keywords: Literary Studies

eBook

Published: April 18, 2007
ISBN: 9780748629541