Fathers, warriors, and vigilantes : post-heroism and the US cultural imaginary in the twenty-first century / Ahu Tanrisever.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tanrisever, Ahu, author.

Series:

European views of the United States ; volume 10.

European views of the United States ; volume 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heroes in literature.

American literature--21st century--Themes, motives.

American literature.

Heroes in motion pictures.

Motion pictures, American--21st century--Themes, motives.

Motion pictures, American.

Fathers in literature.

Fathers in motion pictures.

Vigilantes in literature.

Vigilantes--In motion pictures.

Vigilantes.

American literature--Themes, motives.

Themes, motives.

Physical Description:

xvi, 273 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Heidelberg : Universitätsverlag Winter, [2016]

Summary:

In times of crisis, society turns to its heroes. But what functions do hero figures serve? How are representations of masculinity both symbols and participant within greater cultural struggles over dominance and marginalization? What can heroes tell us about ongoing economic, political, and social debates and transformations in the contemporary USA? Regarding 9/11 as a catalytic rather than a cataclysmic event for US masculinities, this study invites its readers to take a second look at the cultural landscape of heroism in the new millennium. Through readings of contemporary US literature and film centered on the three most controversial heroic figures of our times-fathers, warriors, and vigilantes-this book challenges the thesis of an overall post-9/11 white masculinist backlash. Via the figure of the post-hero, we see shifts in the conceptualization of US individualism in the twenty-first century, displaying growing notions of communality, vulnerability, and class awareness. Book jacket.

Contents:

I Maimed Fathers 41

Prologue: Wounded Protectors 42

Good Guys under Pressure: The Road 50

Moribund Breadwinners: 3:10 to Yuma 78

Coda 102

II Corporeate Warriors 107

Prologue: The Privatized War 111

War as Wage Labor: My War 116

Immersive Warfare: Generation Kill 144

Coda 169

III Aging Vigilantes 175

Prologue: Nostalgia and the Phallic Fallacy 178

The Masculine Makeover Manual: Gran Torino 183

Deconstructing the Frontier Myth: True Grit 213

Coda 237.

Notes:

"This book began as a dissertation at the Graduate School of North American Studies at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies of Freie Universität Berlin"--Page xv.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-262) and index.

ISBN:

9783825365783

3825365786

OCLC:

944085536

Publisher Number:

99967708514