Faculty member Dan Jones will speak on “Salving the Wound: Into the Wild and Postmodern Masculinity” Friday, Nov. 20, at the next event in the 2009-10 English Department Colloquium Series.
The lecture will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. in the O’Shaughnessy (“leather”) Room, Room 108, O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center. UST students, faculty and staff are welcome.
Since its 1996 publication, Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, has captivated readers with the real life story of Chris McCandless. The 2007 release of Sean Penn’s cinematic adaptation of Krakauer’s book only furthered this interest. While much of the criticism about Into the Wild focuses on the appeal McCandless’ story holds for young adults, little attention has been given to the motives of McCandless’ two storytellers.
In this talk, Jones will examine how the authorial and directorial choices made by Krakauer and Penn connect to a recurring element in postmodern American literature – the return to rite of passage narratives – and how these narratives reflect a growing concern about American masculinity at the close of the 20th century.
This will be the last colloquium for the semester.
For more information, call the English Department, (651) 962-5600.
