Where are Fathers in American Literature? Re-Visiting Fatherhood in U.S. Literary History

Bibliographic Data

ID12412752
AuthorsJosep M Armengol (0000-0002-3077-925X, Stony Brook University, corresponding author), Josep M Armengol-Carrera (SUNY (State University of New York) at Stony Brook)
Year2008
Volume16
Issue2
Pages211-226
Publication date2008-05-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Men s Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1060-8265 • E-ISSN: 1933-0251
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3149/jms.1602.211
OpenAlexW1983318143
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited7

The American literary hero has often been portrayed as a self-willed orphan, an individualistic character who breaks with his origins and begins a new life by himself, alone and unencumbered by the responsibilities of family life. Moreover, American literary fathers, when/if present, tend to be represented as authoritarian and repressive figures. Nevertheless, the aim of this paper will be twofold. On the one hand, it will explore, and re-assess, several theoretical explanations that may help account for such dichotomous representation of fatherhood as an absent or repressive institution in U.S literature. On the other hand, it will posit both the feasibility and the desirability of moving beyond traditional binary conceptions of American fatherhood, illustrating the plurality as well as the irreducible complexity of fathers in American literary history

Aesthetics · American literature · Art · Authoritarianism · Character (mathematics · HERO · History of literature · Individualism · Institution · Literary criticism · Literary genre · Literature · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Social science · Sociology · American and British Literature Analysis · American Literature and Culture · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology

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