Travel and Dislocation in Contemporary American Fiction

Description

Looking at such authors as Eggers, Banks, Tan, and Foer, this book offers a critical study and analysis of American novels that quite literally "go outward": it discusses books whose protagonists go abroad, and concentrates on narratives that take place mainly away from the US’s geographical borders. Contemporary American fiction has featured soldiers, missionaries, tourists, heritage travelers, fugitives from the law, aid workers and aspiring philanthropists. What do these characters reveal about what it means to be American at the beginning of the twenty-first century? And what do these novels tell us about the place of America in the world, and about the nature of American literature itself? These are some of the broader themes and questions that this study explores.

Contents

Introduction Part I: Africa and the Limits of Fiction 1. Philip Caputo, Acts of Faith and Dave Eggers, What is the What 2. Russell Banks, The Darling and Norman Rush, Mortals Part II: Travel and Globalisation 3. Amy Tan, Saving Fish from Drowning and Ruth Ozeki, My Year of Meats 4. Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated and Dave Eggers, You Shall Know Our Velocity Part III: Patriots and Expatriates 5. Nell Freudenberger, Lucky Girls and Arthur Phillips, Prague 6. Ethan Canin, Carry Me Across the Water and Chang Rae Lee, A Gesture Life 7. Conclusion

Author Bio

Aliki Varvogli is a lecturer in English at the University of Dundee.

Related Subjects

1. North American Studies
2. Novel
3. American & Canadian Literature