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Mon 31 Mar, 2003 11:37 am
This may or may not be an actual trend, but I'm noticing a certain amount of British authors, taking quite a distain (and or carving up) American women--not women in general--but American women in particular.
Two examples:
Awhile ago I read the novel "The Rachel Papers" by Martin Amis and, even though the main character was quite the player or manipulator of women, his conquest of Rachel seemed and the aftermath seemed very focused on her being American.
This weekend I read the novel "High Fidelity" and was struck by that main charactor's disdain for the American songwriter he hooks up with, and their are specific references to this in the book.
PS Both books were made into movies, the latter more successful--But the film version of High Fidelity was set in Chicago not London, so this whole thing didn't factor at all.
Can you think of any others example of this, or is this just a fluke? Although since the books are so far apart in years, I'm thinking it's more of a sociological thing v. pop trend.
I'm not sure this is a new trend, but you're raising a thought-provoking question. I've read (and enjoyed) many British novelists over the years, and they do sometimes depict Americans as being a bit dim or superficial, women included. So in that sense, I think you're onto something. I just don't see it as anything new...
When it comes to Martin Amis, he has disdain for ALL women, not just Americans. Take for instance Nicola Six, the heroine of his LONDON FIELDS--she is a conniving, sexually manipulative bitch who finally decides she wants one of the men in the book to murder her, and gets her wish. The sole sympathetic woman Amis has created is the female detective in NIGHT TRAIN, and I for one didn't find her too believable. Amis is certainly a misogynist in his fiction. But I agree with D'Art--Brits generally portray Americans as dumb and dim, of either sex.
Thanks for your thoughtful replies.
I understand there's a general British distain for Americans (probably since before the revolution), but these authors, to me anyway, seem to have a thing against American women, and are quite clear about it in the stories.
London Fields and the Information are on my reading list, no idea when I'll get to them though.
I enjoyed Hornsby's book overall, although again, no idea when I'll get to read any of his other stuff, and see if this is a recurring theme in his work. Hornsby aside from the whole American chick hating, didn't seem to be a misogynstic at all.
Edithdoll, the word is "misogynist"--the adjectival form is "misogynistic."
I've read several British authors, but didn't see any of the desdain for Americans you've been able to identify in your readings. Any of you know when this trend began? c.i.
It's nothing new, c.i. The stock character of the naive or dim American has been a fixture in British fiction for a long time...
I can tell you exactly when it began. Dickens visited America and disliked it, writing his sharply critical AMERICAN NOTES in 1842. The following year, 1843, he published MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, a novel which satirizes America and Americans. So this particular literary tradition is now 160 years old.
Rather a funny way to show desdain for Americans when the majority of immigrants to the US during that period were Germans, Irish, and English. All primarily Celts and Saxons.
c.i.
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