"Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club

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dc.contributor.advisorDistiller, Natashaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorOkes, Thomas Holten_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-30T13:46:10Z
dc.date.available2014-10-30T13:46:10Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 83-87).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis study is an attempt to trace the construction and performance of violent masculinity. In this thesis I argue that a particular form of violent masculine identity emerges from within a hegemonic structure of gender relations. I employ two popular, contemporary novels, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club (1997) and Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares (1996), to examine a form of masculinity which is involved in these relations. I explore these novels with the aim of identifying the ways in which their characters engage with those around them in accordance with the system of power which encompasses them. In doing so, I hope to explain the restricting limits placed upon their bodies, and clarify the compulsions which drive their private demeanours and interpersonal behaviour. I argue that these characters perform a model of masculine identity which is founded upon an ideology of naturalised male authority and grounded in the social practice of violent dominance. Marabou Stork Nightmares depicts a male narrator who, in enacting a model of hegemonic masculinity, becomes implicated in the reproduction of hegemonic masculine domination. Fight Club examines the role of this model in restricting its members to structural and physical domination. Each of these novels is concerned with outlining the limitations of performance of masculine gender identity directed through violence. In different ways they convey the extent to which a hegemonic system of dominance generates decidedly difficult and unhappy experience. Overall, this thesis attempts these novels, and to account for the problematic experiences of their characters.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationOkes, T. H. (2009). <i>"Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8947en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationOkes, Thomas Holt. <i>""Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8947en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationOkes, T. 2009. "Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Okes, Thomas Holt AB - This study is an attempt to trace the construction and performance of violent masculinity. In this thesis I argue that a particular form of violent masculine identity emerges from within a hegemonic structure of gender relations. I employ two popular, contemporary novels, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club (1997) and Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares (1996), to examine a form of masculinity which is involved in these relations. I explore these novels with the aim of identifying the ways in which their characters engage with those around them in accordance with the system of power which encompasses them. In doing so, I hope to explain the restricting limits placed upon their bodies, and clarify the compulsions which drive their private demeanours and interpersonal behaviour. I argue that these characters perform a model of masculine identity which is founded upon an ideology of naturalised male authority and grounded in the social practice of violent dominance. Marabou Stork Nightmares depicts a male narrator who, in enacting a model of hegemonic masculinity, becomes implicated in the reproduction of hegemonic masculine domination. Fight Club examines the role of this model in restricting its members to structural and physical domination. Each of these novels is concerned with outlining the limitations of performance of masculine gender identity directed through violence. In different ways they convey the extent to which a hegemonic system of dominance generates decidedly difficult and unhappy experience. Overall, this thesis attempts these novels, and to account for the problematic experiences of their characters. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - "Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club TI - "Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8947 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/8947
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationOkes TH. "Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Club. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8947en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEnglish Literatureen_ZA
dc.title"Power always goes on and on" : the limits of masculinity in Marabou Stork Nightmares and Fight Cluben_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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