The 1990s has witnessed a groundswell of interest in men and masculinity. The book
market saw countless publications, the media took up the topic and discussions
about the 'nineties man' became and still are very much en vogue (even though we
are on the brink of the next millennium).
Parallel to public interest there was also an increase in academic writing. Numerous
sociological and psychological studies endeavoured to explore the roots of
masculinity and examined the mechanisms of its functions in cultures depending of
various kinds of gender division. They concluded that masculinity has no fixed
concept, that masculinity is not just what a group of men happen to do. Rather it has
to be understood in relation to the gender role as a social practice negotiated by men
and understood in relation to the gender order. So one should instead speak of
‘masculinities’ if one wants to grasp the different representations of maleness in
society.
Feminists and multiculturalists have repeatedly criticised the dominant gender
position of men in society and questioned the legitimacy for patriarchy. They asked
for a ‘new man’, a new social understanding of male values and attitudes and asked
for change. Since the mid-1970s men responded to the call for change, explored
aspects of men’s lives and started to question whether the traditional concept (a
concept that is still very much practised by men throughout the Western world) of
male domination is still irreproachable. This, however, also sparked off a crisis,
indeed a dilemma because many men felt that, without a fixed basis to define
themselves they lost their bearings. Bearing this in mind it is an interesting question
to ask in what way men represent men so the task of my thesis is to find out what
kind of men are presented in Alan HOLLINGHURST's The Swimming Pool Library,
Irvine WELSH's Trainspotting and Nick HORNBY's High Fidelity and what
relationships to other men and women the authors form.
I chose this combination of novels and authors for a number of reasons. The novels
are all contemporary works of fiction, in a publicational time span from 1988-1995,
making them fictional works written at the peak of masculinity research and the social
questioning of masculine concepts. Male characters and their authors come from different social backgrounds and thus promise interesting aspects, which take power,
class and sexual orientation into consideration.
[...]
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Theoretical Approaches to Masculinity
- Constructing Gender - Constructing Masculinity
- Connell's Concept of Masculinities: Hegemony, Subordination, Complicity and Marginalisation
- Hegemony
- Oppression and Subordination
- Complicity
- Marginalisation
- Psychoanalytic Perspective
- A Role Perspective on Men
- A Social Relations Perspective on Men
- Cultural Ideals of Masculinity
- The Novels
- Alan HOLLINGHURST - The Swimming-Pool Library
- Main Homosexual Characters and Their Presentation
- Minor Homosexual Characters and Their Presentation
- All-Male Environments
- Presentation of Heterosexual Male Society
- The Portrayal of Racial Minorities
- Masculinity and Femininity
- Summary
- Nick HORNBY - High Fidelity
- Rob Fleming
- Heterosexual Desire
- Blasts From the Past - Masculine Journey Back in Time
- Male Relationships
- Summary
- Irvine WELSH - Trainspotting
- Working Class in Trainspotting
- Male Protagonists
- Male Relationships
- Changed Masculinity - Drugs and Their Effects
- WELSH and the Feminine Role
- Youth Culture and Masculinity
- The Older Generation
- Scottishness
- Masculinity and Language
- Summary
- Construction of Stereotypes by the Authors Looking at Their Own Background/Sexuality
- Conclusion
- References
- Abstract
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This thesis aims to investigate the presentation of men and male relationships in three contemporary British novels: Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, and Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. By analyzing the depiction of masculinity within these novels, the thesis seeks to understand how the authors construct male characters and their interactions, considering their social backgrounds, sexual orientations, and the broader societal context.
- The different ways masculinity is constructed and represented in the novels, focusing on the authors' choices and their potential societal implications.
- The exploration of various concepts of masculinity within the novels, including hegemonic, subordinate, complicit, and marginalized forms.
- The portrayal of male relationships in the novels, including the dynamics between men and men, men and women, and the influence of social structures.
- The impact of social and cultural factors on the representation of masculinity, such as class, sexuality, and cultural ideals.
- The degree to which the authors' own backgrounds and sexualities influence their construction of fictional stereotypes.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
Chapter II: Theoretical Approaches to Masculinity examines various theoretical frameworks to understand the complex concept of masculinity. This chapter provides a foundation for analyzing the novels by introducing key concepts like Connell's theory of masculinities, psychoanalytic perspectives, role theory, and cultural ideals of masculinity. It explores the ways in which masculinity is constructed, negotiated, and expressed within society, providing the necessary tools for interpreting the portrayals of men in the novels.
Chapter III: The Novels delves into the selected novels, analyzing the representation of men and male relationships within each work. The analysis focuses on key aspects of the characters, their interactions, and the authors' choices in portraying their social and cultural context. This chapter examines how the authors present different forms of masculinity, highlighting the social and cultural factors that shape the characters' experiences.
Chapter IV: Construction of Stereotypes by the Authors Looking at Their Own Background/Sexuality investigates the degree to which the authors' own personal backgrounds and sexualities influence the construction of fictional stereotypes within their novels. This chapter examines the potential connections between the authors' experiences and their portrayal of characters, exploring the dynamics of representation and subjectivity.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This thesis explores the complexities of masculinity and its representation in contemporary British fiction, focusing on themes of gender, power, social relations, sexuality, class, and cultural ideals. The work examines the portrayals of men and male relationships in three novels, analyzing the authors' choices, their social backgrounds, and the broader societal context. The key concepts and terms examined include: masculinities, hegemonic masculinity, subordinate masculinity, complicit masculinity, marginalized masculinity, gender relations, male bonding, sexual orientation, social class, and cultural stereotypes. The study utilizes theoretical frameworks from sociology, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies to analyze the representation of men in literature and the potential influence of authors' own experiences on their work.
- Quote paper
- Symon Nicklas (Author), 1999, Men and Masculinity. The Presentation of Men and Male Relationships in Three Contemporary British Novels, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/12581
