Book Description

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, globalization has significantly influenced gendered experiences worldwide. While scholarly attention has predominantly focused on women’s lives and marked gender identities since the seventies, there remains a conspicuous gap in the exploration of the phenomenically “unmarked” gender and particularly men’s identities and the unique challenges they face. Drawing upon a diverse array of texts and ideas from cultural theory, this book delves into crucial issues surrounding masculinity; the shame, struggle, precariousness, and predicaments inherent in navigating the expectations of being “a man” in today’s era of neoliberalism and globalization. Through the lens of the main characters in novels by Bret Easton Ellis, Jonathan Coe, Yann Martel and Christos Tsiolkas, all from the anglophone sphere, the narrative illuminates these often overlooked facets of masculinity crisis. The book seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of masculinities today, shedding light upon the vulnerable nature of the masculine experience.