Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Jaime L. Harker

Second Advisor

Susan Grayzel

Third Advisor

Peter Reed

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

The early decades of the twentieth century saw incredible changes in both literacy and general publishing. Once literature had been the domain of the elite, but now it was the daily pleasure of compeople. The changes in American culture in the middle of the century, combined with this revolution in publishing and literacy, combined to produce texts frequently referred to as pulp-fiction, works easily and cheaply produced for a mass-market. This market actively catered to diverse interests, perhaps most significantly the sexually alienated. Works of gay and feminist pulp fiction served to show alienated gay men and women, as well as independent women working to escape the confines of patriarchal society, that they were not alone and that their desires were not morally profane. Two such works that represent the ethos of this body of fiction are Erica Jong's fear of flying and Jay Greene's behind these walls.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.