The Epitome of Evil : Hitler in American Fiction, 1939–2002

This study explores the literary representations of Adolf Hitler in American fiction and makes the case that his figure has slowly developed from a means of left-wing critique into a device of right-wing affirmation. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-17 The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Narrative, or The Emergence, Disappearance, and Return of Hitler Fiction, 1939–1968....Pages 19-45 “Keeping the Monster Alive”: The Cultural Work of Hitler Fiction....Pages 47-66 Hitler, Nixon, and Vietnam: Self-Critique in Early 1970s Fiction....Pages 67-90 Children, Clones, Conspiracies: Projection in Late 1970s and Early 1980s Novels....Pages 91-117 Hitler, Stalin, and bin Laden: External and Internal Othering since the Mid-1980s....Pages 119-146 Redeeming Hitler? Steve Erickson’s Tours of the Black Clock (1989)....Pages 147-168 Conclusion....Pages 169-181 Back Matter....Pages 183-218 This groundbreaking study argues the figure of Adolf Hitler has become a powerful trope in American culture and explores the implications of this original argument. Focusing on fictional texts that feature Hitler as a character, but taking film and political discourse into account as well, The Epitome of Evil traces the trope's shifting cultural work from World War II to the 'war on terror.' This analysis centers on the proliferation of the use of Hitler in art since 1968 and the transformation from a means of left-wing critique into a rhetorical device of right-wing politics--Résumé de l'éditeur