Race-ing Masculinity: Identity in Contemporary U.S. Writings (Studies in American Popular History and Culture) [Hardcover]

John Christopher Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415934761 | ISBN-13: 978-0415934763 | Publication Date: June 28, 2002

This book examines the intersections of representations of race and gender identity in writings by contemporary US men. The author seeks strategies for approaching ostensibly sexist or homophobic texts by men of colour in ways which grasp how homophobia or sexism coexist or are engendered by certain articulations of anti-racism, or conversely, how certain articulations of gender concerns help produce reactionary ideas about race. The first chapter examines how the articulation of Asian American Identity in the works of Frank Chin, John Okada and Shawn Hsu Wong, while presenting itself as genderless, has a strong masculinist, if not sexist, bias which limits its value for Asian American women and homosexuals. The second chapter looks at the work of the African American writer Charles Johnson, considering the growing critical interest in his work in the context of the conflicting interplay of discourses of feminism and male supremacy in his novels. The third chapter examines a possible counter tradition of the 'joto' or queer, in 'canonized' Chicano novels from Jose Antonio Villareal to Arturo Islas. The final chapter considers how claims about the universality of 'postmodern' experience implicit in Don DeLillo's novel, White Noise , actually bear the particularizing marks of whiteness and masculinity.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (June 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415934761
• ISBN-13: 978-0415934763
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,694,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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