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Abstract

This dissertation will examine the cultural influence of different nations on expressions of ‘extreme masculinities’. Connell’s findings in her work Masculinities will be the focus of my analysis and I will be transposing her analysis on to a wide selection of literary masculinities. Raewyn Connell introduced the idea of multiple, hegemonic masculinities that could differentiate starkly depending on the cultural background informing the gender relations. I will be taking her findings and completing my own cross-cultural analysis of a selection of masculinities, attempting to source the similarities and differences between them. I have chosen three diverse examples of masculinity, starting with Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time, a 19th century Russian novel, Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, a post-war Japanese text, and Easton-Ellis' American Psycho, an 80s American novel. In choosing texts with large cultural and temporal divides, I am then able to compare the masculinities expressed and determine their similarities and differences. For example, I will be exploring the presence of violence in all the case studies and, more importantly, discussing in what ways this common theme differs culture to culture. A large focus of my dissertation will be dedicated to understanding how each male characters concpetualises masculine identity. Over the course of the analysis, it will become clear that the conceptualisation of masculinity develops significantly, and I will argue this can be attributed to the cultural changes between each text.

Course: English Literature - BA (Hons) - C0995

Date Deposited: 2024-01-22

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14303.html