Politics, Satire, and Historical Consciousness in Contemporary American Novel

Olena Boylu

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Olena Boylu, Politics, Satire, and Historical Consciousness in Contemporary American Novel (2022), Logos Verlag, Berlin, ISBN: 9783832584139

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Beschreibung / Abstract

What is the role of the historical and political novel in our lives? Is it just a story from the past, or does it shape our historical con -scious -ness? Can we rely on the information within this type of fiction? According to many historicists, we cannot. However, we can also question numerous ideologically shaped history books that look more like fiction than scientific sources. Hence, historically and politically loaded fiction has an equal chance in the formational process of our historical consciousness. Besides, through satire and humor, which a scientist omits in a history book, a novelist manages to affect its reader on a different scale and leave a deeper trace. As E. ,L. Doctorow once stated, ``The historian tells you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.''

Hence, this study analyzes several significant concepts such as historiography, historical consciousness, power, its elements, and the way it operates; traces major characteristics of historical and political fiction, and determines the role of satire within them. Eventually, through the analysis of several prominent contemporary novels, it provides vivid examples of all the concepts that have been discussed.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • BEGINN
  • INTRODUCTION
  • 1 Historiography and Historical Consciousness in American Novel
  • 1.1 Establishing Boundaries between Fiction and History
  • 1.2 Breaking Boundaries between Fiction and History
  • 1.3 Historical Consciousness
  • 1.4 Historical Novel as a Medium for Historical Consciousness
  • 1.5 The Range of the American Historical Novel
  • 2 Politics and Power Struggle in American Novel
  • 2.1 Various Ideas on Politics and Power
  • 2.2 Power Discourse as a Core of Politics and the Political Novel
  • 2.3 Politics and Aesthetics: Their Reciprocal Relationship with Literature
  • 2.4 Political Novel as a Genre
  • 3 The Patterns of Satire in American Novel
  • 3.1 Defining Satire and Its Components
  • 3.2 Functions of Satire
  • 3.3 Major Categories of Satire: Political, Social, and Religious
  • 3.4 Historical Background
  • 3.5 Satire and Literary Criticism
  • 3.6 Limits of Satire: Ethics, Censorship, and Gender
  • 4 Politics, Satire, and Historical Consciousness in Contemporary American Novel
  • 4.1 Paradise Interrogated: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
  • 4.2 An Epic Story of the Cold War Period: Underworld by Don DeLillo
  • 4.3 Money and Law Powerhouses: The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
  • 4.4 An American Opera: Emperor of America by Richard Condon
  • 4.5 A War for a President: American Hero by Larry Beinhart
  • CONCLUSION
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY

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