
Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
Manchester University Press
Published on 31. August 2014
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-0-7190-8959-6 (ISBN)
Description
Making home explores the figure of the orphan child in a broad selection of contemporary US novels by popular and critically acclaimed authors Barbara Kingsolver, Linda Hogan, Leslie Marmon Silko, Marilynne Robinson, Michael Cunningham, Jonathan Safran Foer, John Irving, Kaye Gibbons, Octavia Butler, Jewelle Gomez and Toni Morrison.
The orphan child is a continuous presence in US literature, not only in children's books and nineteenth-century texts, but also in a variety of genres of contemporary fiction for adults. Making home examines the meanings of this figure in the contexts of American literary history, social history and ideologies of family, race and nation. It argues that contemporary orphan characters function as links to literary history and national mythologies, even as they may also serve to critique the limits of literary history, as well as the limits of familial and national belonging. -- .
The orphan child is a continuous presence in US literature, not only in children's books and nineteenth-century texts, but also in a variety of genres of contemporary fiction for adults. Making home examines the meanings of this figure in the contexts of American literary history, social history and ideologies of family, race and nation. It argues that contemporary orphan characters function as links to literary history and national mythologies, even as they may also serve to critique the limits of literary history, as well as the limits of familial and national belonging. -- .
Reviews / Votes
'Making Home approaches the extremely complex topic of American culture with refreshing clarity and insight...The result is an extremely well structured and accessible study, whose depth lies in its approach to the many diverse texts it engages.'Wade A Bell Jr, Moderna Sprak, May 2016 -- .
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
470 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7190-8959-6 (9780719089596)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Maria Holmgren Troy | Elizabeth Kella | Helena Wahlstrom
Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
E-Book
05/2016
1st Edition
Manchester University Press
€46.99
Available for download

Maria Holmgren Troy | Elizabeth Kella | Helena Wahlstrom
Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
E-Book
05/2016
1st Edition
Manchester University Press
from
€46.99
Available for download
Persons
Maria Holmgren Troy is Professor of English at Karlstad University
Elizabeth Kella is Senior Lecturer in English at Soedertoern University
Helena Wahlstroem is Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies at Uppsala University -- .
Elizabeth Kella is Senior Lecturer in English at Soedertoern University
Helena Wahlstroem is Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies at Uppsala University -- .
Content
Introduction
1. Orphans and American literature: Texts, intertexts, and contexts
2. From captivity to kinship: Indian orphans and sovereignty
3. Literary kinships: Euro-American orphans, gender, genre, and cultural memory
4. Family matters: Euro-American orphans, the bildungsroman, and kinship building
5. At home in the world?: Orphans learn and remember in African American novels
A Coda
Bibliography
Index -- .
1. Orphans and American literature: Texts, intertexts, and contexts
2. From captivity to kinship: Indian orphans and sovereignty
3. Literary kinships: Euro-American orphans, gender, genre, and cultural memory
4. Family matters: Euro-American orphans, the bildungsroman, and kinship building
5. At home in the world?: Orphans learn and remember in African American novels
A Coda
Bibliography
Index -- .