Anxious Men: Masculinity in American Fiction of the Mid-Twentieth Century

Explores representations of men and masculinity in American fiction published after the Second World War Offers readings of a wide selection of postwar American novels from 1945 to the mid-1950s, including canonical works, from the unique perspective of their representation of male identity Provides rich comparative insights through analysis of fiction by writers of diverse race, class and sexuality Demonstrates how gender theory generates insights into the constitution of American masculinity in fiction\nFocusing on a complex and contentious period that was formative in shaping American society and culture in the twentieth century, this book sheds new light on the ways in which fiction engaged with contemporary notions of masculinity. It draws on gender theory and analysis of writers from diverse backgrounds of race, class and sexuality to provide rich comparative insights into the constitution of American masculinity in fiction. The extensive range of novels considered includes fresh analyses of key authors such as James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Patricia Highsmith, Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, Ann Petry, J. D. Salinger and Gore Vidal.\nFrom the Inside Flap\n'This is an exceptionally lucid, detailed introduction to the disruptive thought of Michel Serres. Christopher Watkin opens his admirable account by outlining Serres's disagreements with Descartes and Plato, and with Serres's adaptation of Leibnizian monadology. Rethinking space and time, language, quasi-objects and a new broad scope notion of ecology fill out an intense engagement with Serres's powerfully enabling legacy. Both general readers and specialists are in Watkin's debt for thus providing access to the strange new world of Serresian philosophy.' Joanna Hodge, Manchester Metropolitan University 'Christopher Watkin has written a marvellously lucid and accessible guide to the prodigious work of Michel Serres. Watkin takes account expertly of the whole spread of Serres's long career and breathtakingly various oeuvre, navigating through it not by text or theme, but by "figures of thought". This is a brilliant device that allows him to pay attention not just to the matter of Serres's thought but also to its particoloured styles and textures.' Steven Connor, University of Cambridge A critical assessment of this important contemporary thinker Christopher Watkin provides the first comprehensive introduction to Serres' thought from The System of Leibniz (1968) through to his final publications in 2019. Working from the original French, he engages with both translated and major untranslated texts, providing a true overview of Serres' thinking. Using diagrams to explain Serres' thought, the first half of the book carefully explores Serres' 'global intuition' - how he understands and engages with the world - and his 'figures of thought', the repeated intellectual moves that characterise his unique approach. The second half explores in detail Serres' revolutionary contributions to the areas of language, objects and ecology. Watkin shows that Michel Serres has produced a cross-disciplinary body of work that provides a crucial and as yet under-exploited reference for current debates in post-humanism, object oriented ontology, ecological thought and the environmental humanities. Key Features -The first assessment of Serres' thought as a whole -Brings Serres into conversation with other major thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault and Jean-Luc Nancy -Focuses on the repeated moves that characterize Serres' thinking, making his writing more accessible for scholars across disciplines and showing how his ideas can be brought to bear on new areas Christopher Watkin is Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Cover image: (c) samphan/Adobe Stock Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-0573-7 Barcode\nFrom the Back Cover\n‘This is an exceptionally lucid, detailed introductio