Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
1st Edition
Published on 16. May 2016
240 pages
978-1-5261-1148-7 (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 -- .
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More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-5261-1148-7 (9781526111487)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Maria Holmgren Troy | Elizabeth Kella | Helena Wahlstrom
Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
Book
07/2021
Manchester University Press
€33.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
Maria Holmgren Troy | Elizabeth Kella | Helena Wahlstrom
Making Home
Orphanhood, Kinship and Cultural Memory in Contemporary American Novels
Book
08/2014
Manchester University Press
€125.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
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 -- .
