6. The American Novel and the Marketplace
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Sean A. Witters
Abstract
The essay addresses the ambivalent relationship between the modern and postmodern novel and the institutions and values of the mass culture that produced it. Reading along three characteristic forms of tension with market, the essay shows the ways in which major American novels of the twentieth and twenty-first century simultaneously challenged and reproduced the values, language, and logic of market society. A series of close readings demonstrates how the project of both representing and resisting the dynamic power of the American marketplace shapes form, narration, imagery, and themes in the novels of James, Wharton, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Salinger, Morrison, and Foer. Working across a range of subject positions, class tensions, and identity issues, the essay traces a rich history of negotiations between the novel, the marketplace, and ideals of literary, artistic, and human value.
Abstract
The essay addresses the ambivalent relationship between the modern and postmodern novel and the institutions and values of the mass culture that produced it. Reading along three characteristic forms of tension with market, the essay shows the ways in which major American novels of the twentieth and twenty-first century simultaneously challenged and reproduced the values, language, and logic of market society. A series of close readings demonstrates how the project of both representing and resisting the dynamic power of the American marketplace shapes form, narration, imagery, and themes in the novels of James, Wharton, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Salinger, Morrison, and Foer. Working across a range of subject positions, class tensions, and identity issues, the essay traces a rich history of negotiations between the novel, the marketplace, and ideals of literary, artistic, and human value.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Systematic Questions
- 1. Modernism 21
- 2. Postmodernism 35
- 3. Cultural Diversity 52
- 4. Intermediality 68
- 5. Inter-American Perspectives 84
- 6. The American Novel and the Marketplace 98
- 7. Futures of the American Novel 113
-
Part II. Close Readings
- 8. Henry James, The Ambassadors (1903) 131
- 9. Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918) 148
- 10. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) 162
- 11. John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (1925) 177
- 12. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926) 192
- 13. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (1936) 206
- 14. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood (1936) 222
- 15. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 237
- 16. Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) 250
- 17. Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men (1946) 264
- 18. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 278
- 19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952) 294
- 20. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) 308
- 21. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) 322
- 22. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977) 337
- 23. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984) 351
- 24. Don DeLillo, White Noise (1985) 361
- 25. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) 374
- 26. Philip Roth, American Pastoral (1997) 388
- 27. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005) 401
- 28. Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006) 414
- 29. Louise Erdrich, The Round House (2012) 427
- Index of Subjects 443
- Index of Names 447
- List of Contributors 459
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Systematic Questions
- 1. Modernism 21
- 2. Postmodernism 35
- 3. Cultural Diversity 52
- 4. Intermediality 68
- 5. Inter-American Perspectives 84
- 6. The American Novel and the Marketplace 98
- 7. Futures of the American Novel 113
-
Part II. Close Readings
- 8. Henry James, The Ambassadors (1903) 131
- 9. Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918) 148
- 10. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) 162
- 11. John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (1925) 177
- 12. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926) 192
- 13. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (1936) 206
- 14. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood (1936) 222
- 15. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 237
- 16. Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) 250
- 17. Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men (1946) 264
- 18. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 278
- 19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952) 294
- 20. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) 308
- 21. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) 322
- 22. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977) 337
- 23. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984) 351
- 24. Don DeLillo, White Noise (1985) 361
- 25. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) 374
- 26. Philip Roth, American Pastoral (1997) 388
- 27. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005) 401
- 28. Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006) 414
- 29. Louise Erdrich, The Round House (2012) 427
- Index of Subjects 443
- Index of Names 447
- List of Contributors 459