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Reconstructing the family in contemporary American fiction

Author: Desmond F McCarthy
Publisher: New York : P. Lang, ©1997.
Series: Studies on themes and motifs in literature, v. 6.
Edition/Format:   Book : EnglishView all editions and formats
Summary:
The prevalence of alternative families in contemporary American fiction is significant given the concern and confusion precipitated by the decline in traditional nuclear families in recent decades. John Irving's The World According to Garp, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime contain compelling utopian depictions of alternative families that are more egalitarian than traditional nuclear  Read more...
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Additional Physical Format: Online version:
McCarthy, Desmond F., 1959-
Reconstructing the family in contemporary American fiction.
New York : P. Lang, c1997
(OCoLC)645892989
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Desmond F McCarthy
ISBN: 0820423068 9780820423067
OCLC Number: 31241125
Description: vi, 166 p. ; 24 cm.
Contents: Reconstructing the family as a Utopian project --
The family in crisis --
Harry Angstrom's flights from the family --
The family according to Garp --
The emergent woman's family in The color purple --
America as family: E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime --
The reconstructed family and social change.
Series Title: Studies on themes and motifs in literature, v. 6.
Responsibility: Desmond F. McCarthy.

Abstract:

The prevalence of alternative families in contemporary American fiction is significant given the concern and confusion precipitated by the decline in traditional nuclear families in recent decades. John Irving's The World According to Garp, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime contain compelling utopian depictions of alternative families that are more egalitarian than traditional nuclear families. John Updike's Rabbit, Run and Rabbit Redux are interesting counterpoints to the optimistic novels of Irving, Walker, and Doctorow. Although Updike depicts the traditional nuclear family as the site of considerable ennui and unhappiness, attempts to flee or reconstruct the family in his novels are staggeringly destructive.

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