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The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy
This thesis sees Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy as a celebration of the nostalgia and romance characteristic of the Western and the attendant mythologies of masculinity that the genre implies. My argument runs counter to readings of McCarthy’s texts that view them as revising or querying the mytho...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of English Language and Literature
2015
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| _version_ | 1867611335341113344 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Middleton, Sarah |
| author2 | Strand, Eric |
| author_browse | Middleton, Sarah Strand, Eric |
| author_facet | Strand, Eric Middleton, Sarah |
| author_sort | Middleton, Sarah |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This thesis sees Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy as a celebration of the nostalgia and romance characteristic of the Western and the attendant mythologies of masculinity that the genre implies. My argument runs counter to readings of McCarthy’s texts that view them as revising or querying the mythologies of American culture, such as the argument laid out by John Cant. The initiation process undertaken by the two protagonists in the trilogy is compared to the story of Iron John by Robert Bly. The narratives of both are seen as reactions against feminism, and as being involved in the process of remythifying a male coming-of-age story. In relation to this I will discuss John Grady Cole’s role as an embodiment of the mythical cowboy hero. My analysis then interrogates the dearth of female characters in the Border Trilogy, and uncovers some problematic roles for the females that do feature in the books. I go on to identify certain films that have resonances with McCarthy’s fiction. These occur both thematically in their approach to the ‘damsel in distress’ motif, as seen in The Searchers and Cities of the Plain, and with the representations of Mexico seen in The Wild Bunch and the Border Trilogy. Although it is tempting to read the Border Trilogy as a mythoclastic work, it relies on certain Western conventions and finally celebrates rather than queries the mythologies of American culture, and specifically the mythologies of masculinity. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13737 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of English Language and Literature |
| publisherStr | Department of English Language and Literature |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13737 The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy Middleton, Sarah Strand, Eric English This thesis sees Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy as a celebration of the nostalgia and romance characteristic of the Western and the attendant mythologies of masculinity that the genre implies. My argument runs counter to readings of McCarthy’s texts that view them as revising or querying the mythologies of American culture, such as the argument laid out by John Cant. The initiation process undertaken by the two protagonists in the trilogy is compared to the story of Iron John by Robert Bly. The narratives of both are seen as reactions against feminism, and as being involved in the process of remythifying a male coming-of-age story. In relation to this I will discuss John Grady Cole’s role as an embodiment of the mythical cowboy hero. My analysis then interrogates the dearth of female characters in the Border Trilogy, and uncovers some problematic roles for the females that do feature in the books. I go on to identify certain films that have resonances with McCarthy’s fiction. These occur both thematically in their approach to the ‘damsel in distress’ motif, as seen in The Searchers and Cities of the Plain, and with the representations of Mexico seen in The Wild Bunch and the Border Trilogy. Although it is tempting to read the Border Trilogy as a mythoclastic work, it relies on certain Western conventions and finally celebrates rather than queries the mythologies of American culture, and specifically the mythologies of masculinity. 2015-08-14T14:29:14Z 2015-08-14T14:29:14Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13737 eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | English Middleton, Sarah The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| title_full | The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| title_fullStr | The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| title_full_unstemmed | The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| title_short | The myth of masculinity in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy |
| title_sort | myth of masculinity in cormac mccarthy s border trilogy |
| topic | English |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13737 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT middletonsarah themythofmasculinityincormacmccarthysbordertrilogy AT middletonsarah mythofmasculinityincormacmccarthysbordertrilogy |