Mapping Men: Towards a Theory of Material
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MAPPING MEN: TOWARDS A THEORY OF MATERIAL MASCULINITIES by DAVID R. WALLACE, JR. Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF ENGLISH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON MAY 2013 Copyright © by David R. Wallace, Jr. 2013 All Rights Reserved ii Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation has been a study in the subject itself. It has been transformative. And like the men I‘ve attempted to articulate, my own journey across the open in-betweens has been made possible by individuals too numerous to count, each of whom generously shared their own campsites, their own material experiences, with me. Though I would like to thank them all, I cannot. There are a few, however, who did more than just share their campsites. I‘d like to thank them here. First, I would like to thank my dissertation committee, Stacy Alaimo, Tim Morris— both in the English department—and Chris Morris, in the Department of History. Their insight over the years has been invaluable, and their voices and ideas echo in this project. In particular, I‘d like to thank Stacy Alaimo, with whom I have worked closely for seven long years and who has not only patiently supported my exploration and guided me through my doctorate, but has also given me moral support and encouragement through a number of personal (existential) crises. I would like to thank Tim, also, for his invaluable comments. His critical skills helped me to define this project; his insights and suggestions have helped me become a better writer and a more focused scholar. And I would like to thank Chris for his insight and historical perspectives over the years and for agreeing to participate on my committee even though he has responsibilities in his own department. Without Stacy, Tim, and Chris, this project would not be what it is and, by extension, neither would I. I‘d like to thank, also, Bridgitte Barclay and Christy Tidwell for their help. Each read multiple versions of multiple chapters and offered suggestions, questions, and argument that helped me define my ideas for myself and on paper. Bridgitte, in particular, loved and supported me when my moods were darkest and I vented, when I wanted to quit, and—more importantly—when she didn‘t have to and no one else would iii have. This is but one of the reasons I love her. I‘d also like to thank the man I consider my best and oldest friend, John Reeve, whose practical words—―If you‘re gonna do it, you gotta own it‖—put me in the right mindset. And thank you to Wilton Wright and Amy Tuttle, who kept me sane. I would also like to thank my mother, Ann, and my brother Jonathan and his family for their encouragement and financial support. My mother helped me keep my head above water, and my brother helped me keep my head out of the clouds. Finally, I would like to thank my son, Liam, and his mother Claudia. They have put up with my schedule changes, my long hours, and my mood swings more directly than anyone else. They have changed locations and put their lives on hold to make this dissertation possible. They have sacrificed their time and emotional energy, have stuck it out and are still here, and I can never repay them. Liam, in particular, hasn‘t understood why my attention has been elsewhere and yet, at only eight years old, has been the strongest emotional and moral support I have had. I love you, Li, and thank you. This has been for you. May 24, 2013 iv Abstract MAPPING MEN: TOWARDS A THEORY OF MATERIAL MASCULINITIES David R. Wallace, Jr., PhD The University of Texas at Arlington, 2013 Supervising Professor: Stacy Alaimo This project interrogates the possibilities of material gender theory as an interdisciplinary bridge between critical theory--like gender studies and eco-criticism--and soft-scientific men's studies. The primary theoretical argument of Mapping Men is for a re-theorizing of men's studies' social-constructionist models of masculinity in light of more contemporary critical queer and feminist theories of materiality. I assert that 19th, 20th, and 21st century American literature about rurality and masculinity highlights the unmapped, material middle-spaces (what post-structural feminist Rosi Braidotti calls the "in betweens") between socially-constructed theories of gender and the subjective, embodied experience of being male in rural places. Using an interdisciplinary body of scholarship, I illustrate how the historical literary cartography of American rural masculinity highlights the gender dichotomies and social injustices that arise from a retrograde reliance on socially-constructed models of hegemonic masculinity; and I argue for a material gender re-theorization. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... iii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. v Chapter 1 Hegemonic Topographies: Remapping Hegemonic Masculinities................... 1 1.1 From Head to Toe..................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Hegemonic Difficulties............................................................................................ 21 1.3 Paper Men with Weathered Skin............................................................................ 28 1.4 Mapping Material Masculinities.............................................................................. 32 1.5 The Literary Terrain of American Masculinities..................................................... 38 1.6 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 2 Becoming Cartographies: Material Geographies in Annie Proulx‘s That Old Ace in the Hole................................................................................................................. 44 2.1 Materially Speaking, A Figuration........................................................................... 45 2.2 Drawing Regional Cartographies............................................................................ 50 2.3 ―In every chapter of life‘s book…‖........................................................................... 56 2.3.1 Performing “Bob”……………………..………………….……………….……….58 2.3.2 Material Bob…………………………..………………….…………….………….82 2.4 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 98 Chapter 3 Western Cartographies: The Conflicted Cowboy as Material Masculinity in Annie Proulx‘s Brokeback Mountain.............................................................................. 100 3.1 Invisible Cowboys and Empty Landscapes ......................................................... 104 3.2 Squeezing Spaces................................................................................................ 109 3.2.1 Cowboys in Relief....………………...……………………………………….... 112 3.2.2 “The Blankness of the Plain”....................................................................... 117 3.2.3 By Virtue of Nature……………………………………………………………….121 3.3 Lonesome Cowboys and Western Drag............................................................... 125 3.3.1 Ennis Gives Up…………..……………………………………………….......... 129 vi 3.3.2 Jack Plays Dress Up……………………………………………………….. ..... 131 3.3.3 Border Bandits Playing House.................................................................... 135 3.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................... 145 Chapter 4 Martial Cartographies: The Soldier as Material Masculine Figuration in First Blood and The Hunted................................................................................................... 148 4.1 Soldier Boys.......................................................................................................... 152 4.2 Real Life Rambo(s)............................................................................................... 160 4.2.1 Rambo Re-Theorized.................................................................................. 162 4.3 Saving (Masculine) Natures.................................................................................. 172 4.3.1 Man and Beast............................................................................................ 175 4.3.2 Sexing (Sexy) Nature.................................................................................. 181 4.3.3 Ambiguous Border Lands and Material Natures......................................... 194 4.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................ 199 Chapter 5 Material Cartographies: Places, Spaces, and Material Embodiment in the Classroom...................................................................................................................... 201 5.1 Transition Men...................................................................................................... 203 5.2 Teaching In-Between............................................................................................ 209 5.2.1 Teaching Fragments................................................................................... 214 5.2.2 Word and Things......................................................................................... 218 5.2.3 Pedagogical