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Fathers, Warriors, and Vigilantes

Post-Heroism and the US Cultural Imaginary in the Twenty-First Century

Tanrisever, Ahu

European Views of the United States, Bd. 10

2016

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Abstract

In times of crisis, society turns to its heroes. But what functions do hero figures serve? How are representations of masculinity both symbols and participants within greater cultural struggles over dominance and marginalization? What can heroes tell us about ongoing economic, political, and social debates and transformations in contemporary USA? Regarding 9/11 as a catalytic rather than a cataclysmic event for US masculinities, this study invites its readers to take a second look at the cultural landscape of heroism in the new millennium. Through readings of contemporary US literature and film centered on the three most controversial heroic figures of our times – fathers, warriors, and vigilantes – this book challenges the thesis of an overall post-9/11 white masculinist backlash. Via the figure of the post-hero, we see shifts in the conceptualization of US individualism in the twenty-first century, displaying growing notions of communality, vulnerability, and class awareness.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Cover C
Title Page iii
Copyright iv
Table of Contents vii
Preface ix
List of Publications under the Auspices of the European Association for American Studies xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
I Maimed Fathers 41
Prologue: Wounded Protectors 42
Good Guys under Pressure: "The Road" 50
Moribund Breadwinners: "3:10 to Yuma" 78
Coda 102
II Corporeate Warriors 107
Prologue: The Privatized War 111
War as Wage Labor: "My War" 116
Immersive Warfare: "Generation Kill" 144
Coda 169
III Aging Vigilantes 175
Prologue: Nostalgia and the Phallic Fallacy 178
The Masculine Makeover Manual: "Gran Torino" 183
Deconstructing the Frontier Myth: "True Grit" 213
Coda 237
Conclusion 241
Bibliography 249
Filmography 263
Index 269