Perverse Feelings
Poe and American Masculinity
Abstract
Perverse Feelings: Poe and American Masculinity examines white masculinity in Poe's fiction and the culture it represents. Poe's men are tormented by chronic illness, deviant attachments, and ugly emotions. As it analyzes these afflictions, this book illuminates the pathologies of American masculinity that emerged in a terrible history of imperialism, capitalism, racism, misogyny, and homophobia. One of its central contentions is that we can better understand a past and present American masculinity through a reckoning with its "perverse feelings." More pointedly, this book asks: What does masculinity feel? What does white American masculinity feel in the first decades of nation formation? What does it feel in the crucible of its revolution, its slave system, its democracy, its nascent capitalism, and its pursuit of happiness? What feelings besiege and beleaguer Poe's men? And what can they teach us about the antagonisms of contemporary white American masculinity?
Schlagworte
Resentment Revenge Queer Affect Gothic Melancholia Men Hate Nineteenth century Disgust- 1–22 Introduction 1–22
- 23–52 Hate 23–52
- 53–88 Melancholia 53–88
- 89–116 Disgust 89–116
- 117–156 Resentment 117–156
- 157–190 Revenge 157–190
- 191–202 Epilogue 191–202
- 203–216 Bibliography 203–216
- 217–224 Index 217–224
- 225–226 About the Author 225–226