Routledge Extreme States: The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960-2000 (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature)

Product Description Transgressive fiction explores the crossing of boundaries. Because of its extreme content and style, it is often considered controversial. However, transgressive fiction is not just shocking or disruptive. It is a continuation of an American tradition of creating culture through the crossing of moral, geographical and social boundaries. Extreme States traces the evolution of American transgressive fiction from the 1960s to 2000, exploring how transgressive fiction reflects, exaggerates and critically interrogates how central American ideologies are perpetually (re)constructed in its extra-textual context. Review Is transgression only about breaking the rules, or is it also creative and reconstitutive, part of a perpetual reconfiguration of American culture? Is it about style, or is it about ideas? Coco d’Hont, in her study of American fiction since the 1960s, helps us see transgression as violation, creation, and ideology. ―Christopher Phelps, University of Nottingham "Transgression as a concept involves so much more than the cliché of that which is outré or titillating, usually understood in sexual or aesthetic terms. At last, with Extreme States, we have a monograph that explores the ways in which the crossing of borders, boundaries, and categories is both central to much recent American fiction, and key to understanding the contemporary American ideological imaginary." ―Lisa Downing, University of Birmingham About the Author Coco d’Hont is an independent scholar who researches contemporary American fiction and popular culture. She holds a PhD from the University of East Anglia (UK). Recent projects include explorations of Marilyn Manson, published in the European Journal of American Studies, Mary Harron’s American Psycho, and Chuck Palahniuk’s post-9/11 fiction.