Tragic Novels, René Girard and the American Dream - (Violence, Desire, and the Sacred) by Carly Osborn (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book draws on the philosopher René Girard to argue that three twentieth-century American novels (Jeffrey Eugenides's The Virgin Suicides, Rick Moody's The Ice Storm, and Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road) are tragedies.

Until now, Girardian literary analysis has generally focused on representations of human desire in texts, and neglected both other emotions and the place of tragedy. Carly Osborn addresses these omissions by using Girardian theory to present evidence that novels can indeed be tragedies. The book advances the scholarship of tragedy that has run from Aristotle to Nietzsche to Terry Eagleton, proposing a new way to read modern novels through ancient traditions. In addition, this is the first work to examine the place of women as victims, or in Girardian terms, 'scapegoats', in twentieth century fiction, specifically by considering the representation of women's bodies and ambivalence about their identities.

In deploying a rich and vivid array of tragic tropes, The Virgin Suicides, The Ice Storm, and Revolutionary Road participate in a deep-rooted American tragic tradition. Tragic Novels, the American Dream and René Girardwill be of interest to those working at the intersection of philosophy and literature, as well as Girard specialists.

Review Quotes

Tragic Novels, Rene Girard and the American Dream offers a thought-provoking application of Girardian theory to literary studies. Through readings of The Virgin Suicides, The Ice Stormand Revolutionary Road that chart the rise of anti-tragedies, Osborn brings into sharp focus the mimetic crisis at the heart of that cornerstone of American mythology, the American Dream.
Diletta De Cristofaro, Teaching Fellow in Contemporary Literature, University of Birmingham, UK

Focusing on "the suburban tragic" in three 20th-century American novels, Carly Osborn draws on René Girard to insightfully demonstrate how "Keeping up with the Jones" is a catalyst for catastrophe. As she argues that these novels' self-conscious engagement with tragic tropes works to anti-tragic effect, Osborn raises disturbing questions about the numbing conformity of suburbia, even as her resolutely convincing argument both places female scapegoats at the heart of the suburbs' sacrificial ethos and highlights their role in its subversion. A bold and provocative reading that exposes troubling paradoxes in the American Dream.
Martha Reineke, Professor of Religion, University of Northern Iowa, USA

About the Author

Carly Osborn is a Research Fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and Secretary of the Australian Girard Seminar.