The book argues that in the encounter between desire and ideology we find American literature to be a narrative of a decentered ego in the context of a culture that subverts structure and stability in order to promote change and renewal. Consensus and dissensus commingle in a process of disintegration and reconstruction. The book applies modern theories of literature and psychoanalysis to a broad range of American literary works and extends to the unconscious recent theoretical discussions of the relationship between literature and ideology. The book attempts a reconstruction, not only of American literature and culture, but of Freud as well.
- ISBN10 0312035918
- ISBN13 9780312035914
- Publish Date 1 October 1990 (first published 1 January 1990)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 31 March 2016
- Publish Country US
- Imprint St. Martin's Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 236
- Language English