| Unit name | American Masculinities |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL30048 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Andrew Blades |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
From the outlaw to the conscript, the white-collar commuter to the ‘rebel without a cause’, American literature and culture abounds with archetypes of masculinity. The frontier necessitated what Theodore Roosevelt called ‘the strenuous life’, but though the wilderness is long since a cultural memory, the qualities and values associated with the pioneers continue to be discussed and challenged right into our own century. Beginning with some early prototypes, this unit will track the development of the American male through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through readings of fiction, drama and some poetry. It will consider how various theories of masculine identity have contributed to our understanding of what it means to be a man in America, and how issues of race, class and sexuality might complicate that understanding.
On successful completion of this unit students will have (1) developed a detailed knowledge of key issues around masculinity in American literature; (2) developed a critical understanding of masculine identity in American literature; (3) acquired an understanding of major critical approaches to gender in American literature; (4) demonstrated their ability to analyse and compare primary texts; (5) strengthened their skills in academic writing, argumentation, and evaluation of evidence from primary texts and critical literature.
1 x 2-hour seminar per week.
1 essay of 2,000 words (40%) and 1 essay of 3,000 words (60%)
Richard Wright, Native Son (London: Vintage, 2000)
Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (London, 2009)
John Updike, Rabbit, Run (London, 2006)
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club (London, 2010)
Percival Everett, Erasure (London, 2003)
Michael S. Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History (New York, 2006)
