American Mythologies: Essays on Contemporary Literature
William Blazek and Michael K. Glenday
Abstract
In its more than three decades of existence, the discipline of American studies has been reliably unreliable, its boundaries and assumptions forever shifting as it continuously repositions itself to better address the changing character of American life, literature, and culture. This book looks at the current reinvention of American studies, a reinvention that has questioned the whole notion of what ‘American’ – let alone ‘American studies’ – means. The chapters range widely in considering these questions, from the effect of Muhammad Ali on Norman Mailer's writings about boxing, to the interac ... More
In its more than three decades of existence, the discipline of American studies has been reliably unreliable, its boundaries and assumptions forever shifting as it continuously repositions itself to better address the changing character of American life, literature, and culture. This book looks at the current reinvention of American studies, a reinvention that has questioned the whole notion of what ‘American’ – let alone ‘American studies’ – means. The chapters range widely in considering these questions, from the effect of Muhammad Ali on Norman Mailer's writings about boxing, to the interactions of myth and memory in the fictions of Jayne Anne Phillips, to the conflicted portrayal of the American West in Cormac McCarthy's novels. Four chapters in the collection focus on Native American authors, including Leslie Marmon Silko and Gerald Vizenor, while another considers Louise Erdrich's novels in the context of Ojibwa myth.
Keywords:
American studies,
American literature,
American culture,
Norman Mailer,
Jayne Anne Phillips,
Cormac McCarthy,
Leslie Marmon Silko,
Gerald Vizenor,
Louise Erdrich
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2005 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780853237365 |
| Published to Liverpool Scholarship Online: June 2013 |
DOI:10.5949/UPO9781846312540 |
