Focuses on the American writer's development of child characters, including Joe Christmas, Quentin Compson, Thomas Sutpen, and Isaac McCaslin in childhood and adolescence. Draws on the Bildungrsroman
Discusses the ways in which John Gardner's work was influenced by his cancer, the death of his brother, and the ideas of Susanne Langer and Alfred North Whitehead, particularly the latter's concept of
This study of the work of author Toni Morrison focuses on the role of the maternal in her novels from The Bluest Eye from 1970 through her 2012 novel Home. It examines the individuality of mothering i
Draws on theories of women's speech, voice, and self-realization to illuminate the modern American novelist's awareness of gender differences in language and psychological development. Focusing on dia
Polley (American literature and culture, Kong Kong Baptist U.) explains in his introductory chapter (titled "Ends and Odds") that "American culture obsesses over public mediations of justice. American
Booker examines the work of American playwrights Lillian Hellman and August Wilson. Although different and seemingly unconnected, both dramatists rewrite history to reflect their political activism wh
This study examines the Beat Movement's strong desire for a reconnection with nature. Although each took a different path in pursuing this goal, the writers considered here sought a new and closer re
The blues aesthetic as formulated by Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray holds that the African-American vernacular tradition, with blues music at its core, has had an unparalleled impact on the whole of
Folks (literature, Doshisha U., Japan) explores the relationship between literature and contemporary ethical problems, focusing on southern US and African American writers, his special interest. Deplo
Hussman (emeritus, English, Wright State U.) in essence catalogs all of the desire and disillusion found in the writings of leaders of American fiction since 1890. Included are Frank Norris, Kate Chop
Many readers imagine Gavin Stevens as the character most similar to William Faulkner in all of his apocryphal Yoknapatawpha, and while Stevens was once considered the most reliable Faulknerian spokesp
Chandarlapaty (composition and literature, Southern U, New Orleans) explores the literary and cultural contribution of the Beat Generation by focusing on the life and works of Paul Bowles, William S.
June (English literature and criticism, Paine College, Atlanta, Georgia) explores how fragmentation has defined women's position in the US, and how recent, multi-ethnic American women authors have emb
American Realist Fictions of Marriage: From Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton to Frances Harper, Pauline Hopkins intervenes in the field of American literary realism by arguing that selected marriage fiction
Playing with Expectations: Postmodern Narrative Choices and the African American Novel explores a merging of works by African American novelists to promote critical acceptance of postmodern literature
Smith (mythological studies, Pacifica Graduate Institute) presents five mini-studies of stories by Thomas Pynchon that tease out what Smith terms "necrotypes," archetypes catalyzed by a trip or connec
