The Empty Child
Dystopian Innocence and Samuel Delany’s Hogg
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6188027 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Mitchell (0000-0002-7008-4655, University of East Anglia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of American Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1991-9336 • E-ISSN: 1991-9336 |
| Publisher | OpenEdition (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4000/ejas.11775 |
| OpenAlex | W2580164937 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
This essay examines Samuel Delany’s novel, Hogg to interrogate the figure of the innocent child and the role of the family in America, especially in mid-century America. The essay contends that the novel, narrated by the unnamed eleven-year-old protagonist who details both his polymorphously perverse sexual exploits as companion to the eponymous Hogg (outcast, murderer and rapist for hire) and acts also as chronicle of Hogg’s experiences over 72 hours, destabilizes the ideology of innocence that acts as a utopian foundation to America’s national understanding of itself as exceptional
Art · Dystopia · Ideology · Innocence · Literature · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Queer · American and British Literature Analysis · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |