Representations of masculinity in Fight Club and The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner dissertation proposal.
The main focus of my dissertation will be on representations of masculinity in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club and James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. The aim of the project is to be able to compare and contrast the representations of masculinity in both texts and to be able to determine whether they are inaccurate or whether they serve as a precise social commentary with universal applicability or whether they are only relevant to their time periods and regions.
Fight Club and The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner will supplement my argument as they offer a variety of themes between them, such as religion, fanaticism, violence, single parenthood and isolation. My dissertation will deliberate changes in male attitudes and behaviour in the western world through a number of factors such as systemic emasculation, single parenthood and the rise of movements such as third wave feminism. As a result of these influences, hyper masculinity and fanaticism as reactionary movements will be explored.
The critical context for the time being is a focus on the applicability that the two texts have to the real world, Fight Club is particularly applicable contemporarily as it underlines modern themes which it could be argued have been detrimental to men such as late capitalism and third wave feminism, both texts serve as political polemics, criticising the norms of their time. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a justified Sinner touches upon themes such as single parenthood and baby boomer indoctrination which has left men lacking a certain edge, causing them to behave with more femininity. Fight Club touches upon the fact that the modern man lacks a purpose, he is almost seen as the middle man of history, not under the threat of war as previous generations were, the battle is inside the mind, and the struggle is that of finding a sense of belonging. Both novels heavily touch upon the idea of the double, the good and the bad in each of us, a particular focus will be drawn to how societal factors determine which path we take, ultimately the discussion will lead to how each person is simply a product of their time. The dissertation will take a standard dissertation form consisting of three chapters and a bibliography. Each chapter will have the overarching theme of masculinity in mind whilst discussing smaller themes, the first chapter will focus on the notion of fanaticism where it is in the form of Calvinism or whether it is in the form of anarchism. “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives… And we’re very, very pissed off.” Fight Club presents a losses of faith and hope as well as animosities towards capitalism, a system which has almost been looked upon with a certain dogma yet has failed many, especially men as it has taken away their sense of purpose forcing them to adapt to a world that does things differently. Political factions and divisions will be explored as a contemporary issue seeing as people have become engaged in politics as a reaction to changes going on around them, this type of reaction is certain to bring some level of fanaticism. The first chapter will also concern itself on the presentation of religion and Calvinism in particular in The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Calvinism as a reaction to a Victorian society which was slowly beginning to reject religion for advancements in technology, innovative ideas in psychology and philosophy, as with any changes in society there will be dissidents. The theme of religion will be applied to current world events …show more content…
Fielding says “But the double also can become a projection of our conscience (Freud’s ‘superego’) which we suppose to be censoring or criticising us.” Fielding’s understanding is rather accurate and is applicable to the real world, people often feel they are censoring themselves from their real selves for the sake of conforming to societal norms. Emphasis will also be placed on rebellion and counter cultures more as a fad than genuine dissent to the dominant
The main focus of my dissertation will be on representations of masculinity in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club and James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. The aim of the project is to be able to compare and contrast the representations of masculinity in both texts and to be able to determine whether they are inaccurate or whether they serve as a precise social commentary with universal applicability or whether they are only relevant to their time periods and regions.
Fight Club and The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner will supplement my argument as they offer a variety of themes between them, such as religion, fanaticism, violence, single parenthood and isolation. My dissertation will deliberate changes in male attitudes and behaviour in the western world through a number of factors such as systemic emasculation, single parenthood and the rise of movements such as third wave feminism. As a result of these influences, hyper masculinity and fanaticism as reactionary movements will be explored.
The critical context for the time being is a focus on the applicability that the two texts have to the real world, Fight Club is particularly applicable contemporarily as it underlines modern themes which it could be argued have been detrimental to men such as late capitalism and third wave feminism, both texts serve as political polemics, criticising the norms of their time. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a justified Sinner touches upon themes such as single parenthood and baby boomer indoctrination which has left men lacking a certain edge, causing them to behave with more femininity. Fight Club touches upon the fact that the modern man lacks a purpose, he is almost seen as the middle man of history, not under the threat of war as previous generations were, the battle is inside the mind, and the struggle is that of finding a sense of belonging. Both novels heavily touch upon the idea of the double, the good and the bad in each of us, a particular focus will be drawn to how societal factors determine which path we take, ultimately the discussion will lead to how each person is simply a product of their time. The dissertation will take a standard dissertation form consisting of three chapters and a bibliography. Each chapter will have the overarching theme of masculinity in mind whilst discussing smaller themes, the first chapter will focus on the notion of fanaticism where it is in the form of Calvinism or whether it is in the form of anarchism. “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives… And we’re very, very pissed off.” Fight Club presents a losses of faith and hope as well as animosities towards capitalism, a system which has almost been looked upon with a certain dogma yet has failed many, especially men as it has taken away their sense of purpose forcing them to adapt to a world that does things differently. Political factions and divisions will be explored as a contemporary issue seeing as people have become engaged in politics as a reaction to changes going on around them, this type of reaction is certain to bring some level of fanaticism. The first chapter will also concern itself on the presentation of religion and Calvinism in particular in The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Calvinism as a reaction to a Victorian society which was slowly beginning to reject religion for advancements in technology, innovative ideas in psychology and philosophy, as with any changes in society there will be dissidents. The theme of religion will be applied to current world events …show more content…
Fielding says “But the double also can become a projection of our conscience (Freud’s ‘superego’) which we suppose to be censoring or criticising us.” Fielding’s understanding is rather accurate and is applicable to the real world, people often feel they are censoring themselves from their real selves for the sake of conforming to societal norms. Emphasis will also be placed on rebellion and counter cultures more as a fad than genuine dissent to the dominant