Hit the road, Jack : essays on the culture of the American road / edited by Gordon E. Slethaug, Stacilee Ford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Slethaug, Gordon E., Author.

Contributor:

Slethaug, Gordon.

Ford, Stacilee.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Travel--Social aspects--United States--History.

Travel.

Migration, Internal--Social aspects--United States--History.

Migration, Internal.

Road films--United States--History and criticism.

Road films.

Travelers' writings, American--History and criticism.

Travelers' writings, American.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (341 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

All travelers know the seductive power of the open road and its suggestions of possibility, escape, renewal, and reinvention. Hit the Road, Jack is an interdisciplinary exploration of the significance of the road as reality and metaphor. Engaging with varied cultural mediums such as literature, reality television, philosophy, and political rhetoric, this collection delves deeply into the symbolic implications of the road. Insightful and accessible essays draw upon both classic "road" texts and films, while investigating themes of individual and national freedom, independence and mobility, and destiny. Referencing postmodern theory, gender and queer studies, as well as personal reminiscence and narrative research, Hit the Road, Jack considers the impact that identity - particularly race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation - has on the way various journeys are taken. While literary depictions of the road have a long history, scholarship about the phenomenon is sparse. This anthology makes a significant contribution to the study of the road, bringing to light aspects of its iconic status in American culture. Contributors include Paul Attinello (Newcastle University), Stacilee Ford (University of Hong Kong), Eleanor Heginbotham (University of Maryland), Susan Kuyper (Des Moines Area Community College), Gina Marchetti (University of Hong Kong), Cotton Seiler (Dickinson University), Max J. Skidmore (University of Missouri-Kansas City), Gordon Slethaug (University of Southern Denmark), Michael Truscello (Mount Royal University), and Wendy Zierler (Hebrew Union College -Jewish Institute of Religion, New York).

Contents:

Mapping the trope : a historical and cultural journey / Gordon E. Slethaug

Politics, people moving, and the American myth of the road / Max J. Skidmore

The road in American vernacular music / Susan Kuyper

"So that we as a race might have something authentic to travel by" : African-American automobility and Cold-War liberalism / Cotten Seiler

Witnesses, wanderers, and writers : women on the "beat" road / Eleanor Elson Heginbotham

Assassin in a three-piece suit : Slow fire, minimalism, and the eighties / Paul Attinello

Complicating The simple life : reality television and the road / Stacilee Ford

Postmodern masculinities in recent buddy and solo road films / Gordon E. Slethaug

Transamerica : queer cinema in the middle of the road / Gina Marchetti

Fools on the American road : "Gimpel the fool," The Frisco kid, and Forrest Gump / Wendy Zierler

Generically mobile : the projection of protocol from the road movie to virtual reality and video games / Michael Truscello.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-4076-8

OCLC:

820835164