Fetishism and Its Discontents in Post-1960 American Fiction (American Literature Readings in the 21st Century)

This study explores the concept of fetishism as a strategy for expressing social and political discontent in American literature, and for negotiating traumatic experiences particular to the second half of the twentieth century. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Fetishism and Its Discontents....Pages 1-28 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 A Parallax History of Fetish Theory....Pages 31-59 Signifying on Fetishism in Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo ....Pages 61-88 Front Matter....Pages 89-89 Queering Lesbian Fetishism in Pynchon’s V....Pages 91-121 Resighting Gender Theory: Butler’s Lesbian Phallus in Acker’s Pussy ....Pages 123-152 Front Matter....Pages 153-153 Domesticating Fantasy: S/M Fetishism, Suburban Fiction, and Coover’s Spanking the Maid ....Pages 155-186 Narrating the Death Drive: Automotive Sintho Mosexuality and Hawkes’s Travesty ....Pages 187-214 Conclusion....Pages 215-219 Back Matter....Pages 221-270