This study examines masculinity and individualism in four American novels of the 1920s and 1930s usually regarded as belonging to the genre of hard-boiled fiction. The novels under study are Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy, and To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway.
In this first full-length study of gender in hard-boiled fiction the genre is discussed as a representation of the ideologies of masculinity and individualism. Hard-boiled fiction is located in its historical and cultural context and it is argued that the genre, with its explicit emphasis on masculinity and masculine virtues, attempts to reaffirm a masculine order. The study argues that this emphasis is a counter-reaction to more general changes in the gender relations of the period. Indeed, hard-boiled fiction is argued to be an attempt to reconstruct a masculine identity based on anti-modern values generally accepted in the cultural context of the genre.
Contents: Preface. 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1. Aims. 1.2. Texts. 2. GENRE AND GENDER. 2.1. The Emergence of Hard-Boiled Fiction. 2.2. Masculinity Embodied. 2.3. Gender and Social Change. 2.4. Gender and Adventure. 3. CONSTRUCTING HARD-BOILED MASCULINITY. 3.1. Body. 3.2. Codes of Manhood. 3.3. Language and Control. 4. THE FICTION OF INDIVIDUALISM. 4.1. Autonomy and Individualism. 4.2. The Autonomous Male. 4.3. The Individual Self. 4.4. The Destruction of Individualism. 5. THE LOSS OF IDEALISM. 5.1. Dreams Deferred in The Postman Always Rings Twice. 5.2. The End of Humanity in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 5.3. A Tragedy of Idealism in To Have and Have Not. 5.4. Alienation in Red Harvest. 6. MEN, DREAMS, AND ORDER. 6.1. Hard-Boiled Sentimentalists. 6.2. Masculine Omnipotence. 6.3. A World of Order. 6.4. Gendered Saviours. 7. CONCLUSION. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
In this first full-length study of gender in hard-boiled fiction the genre is discussed as a representation of the ideologies of masculinity and individualism. Hard-boiled fiction is located in its historical and cultural context and it is argued that the genre, with its explicit emphasis on masculinity and masculine virtues, attempts to reaffirm a masculine order. The study argues that this emphasis is a counter-reaction to more general changes in the gender relations of the period. Indeed, hard-boiled fiction is argued to be an attempt to reconstruct a masculine identity based on anti-modern values generally accepted in the cultural context of the genre.
Contents: Preface. 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1. Aims. 1.2. Texts. 2. GENRE AND GENDER. 2.1. The Emergence of Hard-Boiled Fiction. 2.2. Masculinity Embodied. 2.3. Gender and Social Change. 2.4. Gender and Adventure. 3. CONSTRUCTING HARD-BOILED MASCULINITY. 3.1. Body. 3.2. Codes of Manhood. 3.3. Language and Control. 4. THE FICTION OF INDIVIDUALISM. 4.1. Autonomy and Individualism. 4.2. The Autonomous Male. 4.3. The Individual Self. 4.4. The Destruction of Individualism. 5. THE LOSS OF IDEALISM. 5.1. Dreams Deferred in The Postman Always Rings Twice. 5.2. The End of Humanity in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 5.3. A Tragedy of Idealism in To Have and Have Not. 5.4. Alienation in Red Harvest. 6. MEN, DREAMS, AND ORDER. 6.1. Hard-Boiled Sentimentalists. 6.2. Masculine Omnipotence. 6.3. A World of Order. 6.4. Gendered Saviours. 7. CONCLUSION. BIBLIOGRAPHY.