Strange Bodies : Gender and Identity in the Novels of Carson McCullers
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| Title: | Strange Bodies : Gender and Identity in the Novels of Carson McCullers |
|---|---|
| Description: | Adapts Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque, as well as the latest in gender and psychoanalytic theory, to the major works of acclaimed southern writer Carson McCullers. This innovative reconsideration of the themes of Carson McCullers's fiction argues that her work has heretofore suffered under the pall of narrow gothic interpretations, obscuring a more subversive agenda. By examining McCullers's major novels—The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Member of the Wedding, and The Ballad of the Sad Café—Gleeson-White locates a radical and specific form of the grotesque in the author's fiction: the liberating and redemptive possibilities of errant gender roles and shifting sexuality. She does this by employing Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque, which is both affirming and revolutionary, and thereby moves McCullers's texts beyond the'gloom and doom'with which they have been charged for over fifty years. The first chapter explores female adolescence by focusing on McCullers's tomboys in the context of oppressive southern womanhood. The second chapter analyzes McCullers's fascinating struggle to depict homosexual desire outside of traditional stereotypes. Gleeson-White then examines McCullers's portrayals of feminine and masculine gender through the tropes of cross-dressing, transvestism, and masquerade. The final chapter takes issue with earlier readings of androgyny in the texts to suggest a more useful concept McCullers herself called'the hybrid.'Underpinning the whole study is the idea of a provocative, dynamic form of the grotesque that challenges traditional categories of normal and abnormal. Because the characters and themes of McCullers's fiction were created in the 1940s and 1950s, a time of tension between the changing status of women and the southern ideal of womanhood, they are particularly fertile ground for a modern reexamination of this nature. Gleeson-White's study will be valued by scholars of American literature and gender and queer studies, by students of psychology, by academic libraries, and by readers of Carson McCullers. Strange Bodies is a thoughtful, highly credible analysis that adds dimension to the study of southern literature. |
| Authors: | Sarah Gleeson-White |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Identity (Psychology) in literature, Psychological fiction, American--History and criticism, Women and literature--Southern States--History--20th century, Human body in literature, Grotesque in literature, Gender identity in literature |
| Categories: | LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Women Authors |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: nlebk DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) An: 279763 RelevancyScore: 985 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: eBook PubTypeId: ebook PreciseRelevancyScore: 985.343994140625 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Strange Bodies : Gender and Identity in the Novels of Carson McCullers – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: Adapts Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque, as well as the latest in gender and psychoanalytic theory, to the major works of acclaimed southern writer Carson McCullers. This innovative reconsideration of the themes of Carson McCullers's fiction argues that her work has heretofore suffered under the pall of narrow gothic interpretations, obscuring a more subversive agenda. By examining McCullers's major novels—The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Member of the Wedding, and The Ballad of the Sad Café—Gleeson-White locates a radical and specific form of the grotesque in the author's fiction: the liberating and redemptive possibilities of errant gender roles and shifting sexuality. She does this by employing Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque, which is both affirming and revolutionary, and thereby moves McCullers's texts beyond the'gloom and doom'with which they have been charged for over fifty years. The first chapter explores female adolescence by focusing on McCullers's tomboys in the context of oppressive southern womanhood. The second chapter analyzes McCullers's fascinating struggle to depict homosexual desire outside of traditional stereotypes. Gleeson-White then examines McCullers's portrayals of feminine and masculine gender through the tropes of cross-dressing, transvestism, and masquerade. The final chapter takes issue with earlier readings of androgyny in the texts to suggest a more useful concept McCullers herself called'the hybrid.'Underpinning the whole study is the idea of a provocative, dynamic form of the grotesque that challenges traditional categories of normal and abnormal. Because the characters and themes of McCullers's fiction were created in the 1940s and 1950s, a time of tension between the changing status of women and the southern ideal of womanhood, they are particularly fertile ground for a modern reexamination of this nature. Gleeson-White's study will be valued by scholars of American literature and gender and queer studies, by students of psychology, by academic libraries, and by readers of Carson McCullers. Strange Bodies is a thoughtful, highly credible analysis that adds dimension to the study of southern literature. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sarah+Gleeson-White%22">Sarah Gleeson-White</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Identity+%28Psychology%29+in+literature%22">Identity (Psychology) in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+fiction%2C+American--History+and+criticism%22">Psychological fiction, American--History and criticism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Women+and+literature--Southern+States--History--20th+century%22">Women and literature--Southern States--History--20th century</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+body+in+literature%22">Human body in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grotesque+in+literature%22">Grotesque in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+identity+in+literature%22">Gender identity in literature</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22LITERARY+CRITICISM+%2F+General%22">LITERARY CRITICISM / General</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22LITERARY+CRITICISM+%2F+Women+Authors%22">LITERARY CRITICISM / Women Authors</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 813.52 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Identity (Psychology) in literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychological fiction, American--History and criticism Type: general – SubjectFull: Women and literature--Southern States--History--20th century Type: general – SubjectFull: Human body in literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Grotesque in literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Gender identity in literature Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Strange Bodies : Gender and Identity in the Novels of Carson McCullers Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sarah Gleeson-White – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sarah Gleeson-White IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2003 – D: 04 M: 02 Type: profile Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780817312671 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780817357214 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9780817382810 Titles: – TitleFull: Strange Bodies : Gender and Identity in the Novels of Carson McCullers Type: main |
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