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FICTIONS OF REPRESENTATION:
NARRATIVE AND THE POLITICS OF SELF-MAKING IN THE INTERWAR
AMERICAN NOVEL
by
Andrew Mark Hakim
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ENGLISH)
December 2009
Copyright 2009 Andrew Mark Hakim
Object Description
| Title | Fictions of representation: narrative and the politics of self-making in the interwar American novel |
| Author | Hakim, Andrew Mark |
| Author email | ahakim@usc.edu; andrewhakim@netscape.net |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | English |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2009-10-28 |
| Date submitted | 2009 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2009-11-10 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Kaplan, Carla |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Rowe, John Carlos Williams, Diana |
| Abstract | Fictions of Representation examines the ways literary, political, and social processes of representation operated in constructing a specific national history of being, subjectivity, and citizenship in the interwar era United States. I draw a parallel between a shifting national story of representation during this time period and the proliferation of novels where the story of a central figure pursuing the American dream is related through the eyes of another character – a character who seemingly stands for the protagonist and represents his or her tale to readers. Exploring the complex narrative strategies employed by novels such F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nella Larsen’s Passing, and Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, I link literary technique and political representation to highlight the tension between having the right to be autonomous and free, yet at the same time having one’s interests represented by another. Connecting narrative structure and interwar era concerns over representation and American character and identity, I uncover a growing distrust toward and crisis in confidence in both representative democracy and representations of “Americanness.” More specifically, I theorize that the increased appearance of novels such as Gatsby, Passing, and My Ántonia in the years between the wars reflects national apprehension about changes in the shape and scope of political representation in the U.S., and is in direct proportion to a concomitant increase in anxieties over what it meant to be “American” as the nation grappled with acute dislocation fostered by immigration, industrialization, woman’s suffrage, race and labor strife, political radicalism, and global war.; Through a critical remapping of work by Fitzgerald, Larsen, Cather, Robert Penn Warren, William Faulkner, and Budd Schulberg, I consider the troubled ethical implications of a democracy that supposedly cares for those who are ruled, yet frequently denies its citizens full equality and meaningful voice. Although the writers in my study were not, for the most part, radical in their politics, I suggest that their texts, when placed in context with each other and with their era, elucidate how the act of relying on one person to represent someone else, whether in literature or in politics, can create a comfort with the act of appropriation that leads to cultural dominance. |
| Keyword | representation; American literature; politics |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1918/1948 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m2722 |
| Rights | Hakim, Andrew Mark |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Hakim-3389 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume44/etd-Hakim-3389.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | FICTIONS OF REPRESENTATION: NARRATIVE AND THE POLITICS OF SELF-MAKING IN THE INTERWAR AMERICAN NOVEL by Andrew Mark Hakim A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ENGLISH) December 2009 Copyright 2009 Andrew Mark Hakim |
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