Lad Trouble Masculinity and Identity in the British Male Confessional Novel of the 1990s Andrea Ochsner

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ochsner, Andrea <p>Andrea Ochsner, Universität Basel, Schweiz</p>, Author.

Series:

Cultural studies.

Cultural Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Contemporary British Novel.

Popular Culture.

Masculinity.

Identity Crisis.

Gender Trouble.

Deconstruction.

Performativity.

Literature.

Gender.

British Studies.

Cultural Studies.

Gender Studies.

Literary Studies.

Local Subjects:

Contemporary British Novel.

Popular Culture.

Masculinity.

Identity Crisis.

Gender Trouble.

Deconstruction.

Performativity.

Literature.

Gender.

British Studies.

Cultural Studies.

Gender Studies.

Literary Studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (389 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Ochsner, Lad Trouble Masculinity and Identity in the British Male Confessional Novel of the 1990s

Place of Publication:

Bielefeld transcript Verlag 2015

Language Note:

English

Biography/History:

Andrea Ochsner (PhD) teaches English Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Summary:

In the 1990s, the male confessional novel, most prominently represented by Nick Hornby (»High Fidelity«), but also by writers such as Tim Lott (»White City Blue«) and Mike Gayle (»My Legendary Girlfriend«), articulated the structure of feeling of the male generation in their late twenties/early-to-mid-thirties.The book presents the advent of the male confessional novel in a fresh and yet critical light, challenging the feminist claim that the genre should be understood as a backlash against feminism and a relapse into sexism. By applying an eclectic theoretical framework, ranging from Raymond Williams to Anthony Giddens, Judith Butler and Jacques Derrida, the study illustrates why the male confessional novel is too complex a phenomenon to be solely interpreted in terms of retrosexism. It convincingly shows how the multitude of postmodern gender scripts adds to the crisis of identity and to the problematic nature of clearly defined gender relationships.

»Durch seine Umsicht, Kontextualisierung und Fokussierung auf ein vernachlässigtes literarisches Subgenre ist ›Lad Trouble‹ eine [..] empfehlenswerte Lektüre. Die Studie überzeugt in der Herausarbeitung der soziokulturellen Bedingungen für die Genese und Profilierung eines literarischen Phänomens ebenso wie in den einzelnen Textanalysen.«

Reviewed in: Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik (ZAA), 58/4 (2010), Elahe Haschemi YekaniIASL online.de, 01.03.2011, Dirk Schulz

»Mit ›Lad Trouble‹ legt Andrea Ochsner eine sehr breit angelegte Studie vor, die die Konstruktion von Maskulinität in der britischen ›male confessional novel‹ der 1990er überzeugend analysiert und intelligent kontextualisiert.«

Contents:

Frontmatter 1 Table of Contents 5 Acknowledgements 7 Preface 9 Introduction: The Structure of Feeling in the 1990s 19 Changing Narratives - Changing Societies 39 Confessional Writing: The (Re)Construction of a Literary Genre 81 Cultural Studies and Popular Culture: Struggling with a Problem Child 117 Introduction 155 Structures of Obsessions 159 Structures of Non-Commitments 235 Structures of Prolonged Adolescence 275 Conclusion 339 Epilogue: The Lad Lit Project 345 Appendix: Interview with Nick Hornby 357 Bibliography 369

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9783839411612

3839411610

OCLC:

1023999845