2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study on Masculinity in American Adolescent Literature
| Project/Area Number |
14510523
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
英語・英米文学
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| Research Institution | Kobe College |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA Junko Kobe College, School of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (30253024)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Keywords | American adolescent literature / the Vietnam War / Masculinity / Americanism |
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| Research Abstract |
This study on the changing conception of masculinity in American adolescent literature deals with three topics : the Vietnam War, the "Myth of Masculinity," and the "Ideological State Apparatus."
First, I study representations of the war, which have exposed the collapse of the masculinity characterized by the soldier. With analysis of Katherine Paterson's Park's Quest, one of three important Vietnam narratives in adolescent novels published in 1988 that reflect the social atmosphere of a country seeking to recover from the "wound" inflicted by the war, I demonstrate the collapse of traditional and authoritative masculinity and the appearance of an alternative type(Bridges for the Young). Robert Cormier's I Am the Cheese echoes the collapse and corruption of authority during both the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandals, as well. The novel portrays a teenage boy whose parents are assassinated and whose own life Is unjustly threatened by the government. I explore the relationship betwee
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n changing the conception of masculinity and the American Empire, demonstrating how the adolescent youth's quest for his gender identity comes into conflict with Americanism, the ideology of the American narrative(Tinker Bell 49).
Second, I argue that certain adolescent novels mirror the rise and fall of the "myth of masculinity." The detailed textual analysis of E.R.Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes illustrates the protagonist, Tarzan, embodies "passionate manhood"(Kobe College Studies 49-2). This particular conception of traditional masculinity values physical power over mental strength. Analyzing L.Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz and Ursula K.Le Guin's "The Earthsea Quintet," I demonstrate the representations of masculine anxiety and the "revision" of American manhood that were pervasive in successive eras Children's Literature and the Fin de Siecle, The Presence of the Past in Children's Literature).
Third, using a comparative study with other adolescent novels, I demonstrate how the institution of adolescent literature has been utilized as an "Ideological State Apparatus" to ensure the hegemony of the American Empire of democracy. Thus, the iconic image of a rebellious youth in an age of counterculture represents the resistance of youth to conforming to the Ideological State Apparatus(Shonentachi no America). Less
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