Masculinity in contemporary New York fiction / / Peter Ferry

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910791004103321
• Autore: Ferry Peter <1982-, >
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York : , : Routledge, , 2015
• ISBN: 1-315-79398-9; 1-317-74315-6
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (183 pages)
• Collana: Routledge Transnational Perspectives on American Literature ; ; 25
• Classificazione: LIT004020LIT000000SOC032000
• Disciplina: 813/.609353
• Soggetti: American fiction - 20th century - History and criticism; American fiction - 21st century - History and criticism; Masculinity in literature; Sex role in literature; Men in literature; Flaneurs in literature; New York (N.Y.) In literature
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: 1. Introduction : finding yourself in New York -- 2. Walking Manhattan, writing masculinity : (re-)introducing the New York flaneur with E.B. White's Here is New York and Joshua Ferris' The unnamed -- 3. "The son saves the father" : counter-hegemonic father figures in Paul Auster's fiction -- 4. "Because I want to fit in" : the influence of the male peer group in Bret Easton Ellis' American psycho -- 5. "A world citizen with a New York pair of balls" : the global hegemonic male in Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis.
• Sommario/riassunto: "Masculinity in Contemporary New York Fiction is an interdisciplinary study that presents masculinity as a key thematic concern in contemporary New York fiction. This study argues that New York authors do not simply depict masculinity as a social and historical construction but seek to challenge the archetypal ideals of masculinity by writing counter-hegemonic narratives. Gendering canonical New York writers, namely Paul Auster, Bret Easton Ellis, and Don DeLillo, illustrates how explorations of masculinity are tied into the principal ; themes that have defined the American novel from its very beginning. The themes that feature in this study include the role of the novel in American society; the individual and (urban) society; the journey from innocence to awareness (of masculinity); the archetypal image of the absent and/or patriarchal father; the impact of homosocial relations on the everyday performance of masculinity; male sexuality; and the male individual and globalization. What connects these contemporary New York writers is their employment of the one of the great figures in the history of literature: the flaneur. These authors take the flaneur from the shadows of the Manhattan streets and elevate this figure to the role of self-reflexive agent of male subjectivity through which they write counter-hegemonic narratives of masculinity. This book is an essential reference for those with an interest in gender studies and contemporary American fiction"--