Publicação
Toxic masculinity and total war : Billy Prior and the Male role in Pat Baker's regeneration trilogy
| Resumo: | This dissertation aims to explore, characterise and debunk the myth of the masculine war hero through the analysis of Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy. It focuses on showcasing how the traditionally patriarchal society of late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain educated its youth to follow unrealistic models of masculinity which privileged the suppression of emotion and tenderness, while promoting violence. The imperial agenda during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created a generation of males who believed in the “Great Adventure” of war and imagined it as a glorious event, where men were supposed to show their virility and honour in defence of western values. By focusing on the character of Billy Prior, a working-class, bisexual and shell-shocked soldier, this dissertation will demonstrate how his class, gender and sexual identity represent an exception to the patriarchal system of the time. Billy’s behaviour makes him an outcast of society, highlighting the problems and fragility of institutionalised masculinity. Furthermore, it will show how these characteristics are used by Billy as a weapon of survival, and how his late adherence to societal expectations ultimately led to his demise. The analysis of shell-shock will make clear how war went from being seen as a showcase of heroes to an event of indiscriminate violence which dehumanised its victims. Through Billy’s story, we can see that war erodes one’s humanity, turning a once lively and rebellious twenty-two-year-old man into a ghost, incapable of fitting in with regular human behaviour. |
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| Autores principais: | Fonseca, Margarida Cupido |
| Assunto: | Barker, Pat, 1943-..... Regeneration Romance inglês - séc. 20 - História e crítica Guerra mundial (1914-1918) - Literatura e guerra Violência - Na literatura Sofrimento - Na literatura Masculinidade - Na literatura Nevroses de guerra - Na literatura Traumatismos psíquicos - Na literatura Literatura e sociedade - Grã-Bretanha - séc.20 Teses de mestrado - 2019 |
| Ano: | 2019 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
| Resumo: | This dissertation aims to explore, characterise and debunk the myth of the masculine war hero through the analysis of Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy. It focuses on showcasing how the traditionally patriarchal society of late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain educated its youth to follow unrealistic models of masculinity which privileged the suppression of emotion and tenderness, while promoting violence. The imperial agenda during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created a generation of males who believed in the “Great Adventure” of war and imagined it as a glorious event, where men were supposed to show their virility and honour in defence of western values. By focusing on the character of Billy Prior, a working-class, bisexual and shell-shocked soldier, this dissertation will demonstrate how his class, gender and sexual identity represent an exception to the patriarchal system of the time. Billy’s behaviour makes him an outcast of society, highlighting the problems and fragility of institutionalised masculinity. Furthermore, it will show how these characteristics are used by Billy as a weapon of survival, and how his late adherence to societal expectations ultimately led to his demise. The analysis of shell-shock will make clear how war went from being seen as a showcase of heroes to an event of indiscriminate violence which dehumanised its victims. Through Billy’s story, we can see that war erodes one’s humanity, turning a once lively and rebellious twenty-two-year-old man into a ghost, incapable of fitting in with regular human behaviour. |
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