Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists: American Fiction after Postmodernism

by Robert Rebein

Overview

Robert Rebein argues that much literary fiction of the 1980s and 90s represents a triumphant, if tortured, return to questions about place and the individual that inspired the works of Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Faulkner, and other giants of American literature. Concentrating on the realist bent and regional orientation in contemporary fiction, he discusses in detail the various names by which this fiction has been described, including literary postmodernism, minimalism, Hick Chic, Dirty Realism, ecofeminism, and more. Rebein's clearly written, nuanced interpretations of works by Raymond Carver, Cormac McCarthy, Don DeLillo, Louise Erdrich, Dorothy Allison, Barbara Kingsolver, E. Annie Proulx, Chris Offut, and others, will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813184593
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/21/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	517 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Rebein is assistant professor of English and creative writing at Indiana University-Purdue University.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	viii
1.	After Postmodernism	1
2.	Minimalism and Its Discontents	22
3.	Dirty Realism	41
4.	Hick Chic, or, the "White Trash Aesthetic"	66
5.	Return of the Native	82
6.	New West, or, the Borderlands	109
7.	Tribes and Breeds, Coyotes and Curanderas	134
8.	The White Prison Novel as Bildungsroman	154
	Conclusion	165
	Notes	180
	Index	196

Editorial Reviews

If postmodernism connotes a kind of finality, what comes after it? Rebein (English and creative writing, Indiana U.-Purdue U.) assesses the state of American literature and then recharacterizes it, pointing to a growing dissatisfaction with a literary postmodernism that is dominated by a few famous names. He looks at some of the most important works of the end of the 20th century in light of what they do, rather than how they fit into any particular movement. Focusing on established and less well-known authors, he finds that the trend is toward the work of writers previously on the margins<-->minorities, women, and white men taking readers to unusual places<-->who are returning to classic "modern" questions of place and the individual. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Looks at some of the most important works of the end of the 20th century in light of what they do, rather than how they fit into any particular movement.

Book News

I urge anyone still puzzled by what has been happening in recent American literature to read this book. Rebein writes clearly and convincingly of recent books which moved him deeply.

SUNY-Buffalo Leslie Fiedler

A shrewd topographical map of contemporary American fiction.

SUNY-Buffalo Mark Shechner

Rebein singles out realism and regionalism as the exciting and enduring strains in US literature, a focus that is keeping the American tradition alive.

Choice

Rebein claims that after postmodern fiction, American writing (since 1980) has returned to the fundamentals of realism, but with a broader range of perspective and techniques. Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists delivers everything you might think the title promises.

Journal of Appalachian Studies

This is the best guide I know to contemporary American fiction—thorough, incisive, coherent, readable.

Wade Hall

A book worth reading.

American Book Review

"Looks at some of the most important works of the end of the 20th century in light of what they do, rather than how they fit into any particular movement." — Book News

"Rebein singles out realism and regionalism as the exciting and enduring strains in US literature, a focus that is keeping the American tradition alive." — Choice

"Rebein claims that after postmodern fiction, American writing (since 1980) has returned to the fundamentals of realism, but with a broader range of perspective and techniques. Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists delivers everything you might think the title promises." — Journal of Appalachian Studies

"I urge anyone still puzzled by what has been happening in recent American literature to read this book. Rebein writes clearly and convincingly of recent books which moved him deeply." — Leslie Fiedler, SUNY-Buffalo

"A shrewd topographical map of contemporary American fiction." — Mark Shechner, SUNY-Buffalo

"This is the best guide I know to contemporary American fiction — thorough, incisive, coherent, readable." — Wade Hall

"A book worth reading." — American Book Review

From the Publisher