| Document Type
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BL
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| Record Number
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1041677
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| Doc. No
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b796047
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| Main Entry
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Gardaphé, Fred L.
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| Title & Author
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From wiseguys to wise men : : the gangster and Italian American masculinities /\ Fred L. Gardaphe.
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| Publication Statement
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New York :: Routledge,, 2006.
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| Page. NO
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xix, 244 pages :: illustrations ;; 24 cm
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| ISBN
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0415946476
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: 0415946484
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: 9780415946476
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: 9780415946483
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| Bibliographies/Indexes
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-236) and index.
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| Contents
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Origins of an archetype -- The gangster as culture hero: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola -- The truth about gangsters: Gay Talese and Ben Morreale -- Rough boys: the gangsters of Martin Scorsese and Michael Cimino -- Queering the gangster: Giose Rimanelli and Frank Lentricchia -- Female masculinity and the gangster: Louisa Ermelino -- The gangster as public intellectual: Anthony Valerio and Don DeLillo -- Fresh garbage: the gangster as today's trickster: David Chase and Tony Ardizzone -- New directions in Italian-American manhood -- From macho to zero: redesigning Italian-American masculinities.
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| Abstract
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As the real American gangsters of yesterday recede into the history books, their iconic figures loom larger than ever. From Wiseguys to Wise Men studies the cultural figure of the gangster, and explores its social function in the construction and projection of masculinity in the United States. Gardaphe shows how the gangster can be seen as a 'trickster' figure. The trickster figure exists in many cultures and serves as a model of improper behavior. The gangster has served as that figure in American culture by showing what is and is not authentically American. It is not American to speak a language other than English. It is not American to use violence to secure business deals. It is not American to have both a mistress and a wife and family. However, in the hands of Italian-American artists, the gangster becomes a more telling figure in the tale of American race, gender, and ethnicity-a figure that reflects the autobiography of an immigrant group just as it reflects the fantasy of a native population.
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While this figure has been a part of American literature since even before Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it has only been with the revolution in cinema, and the work of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese that the figure of the gangster has been humanized and disseminated on a large scale. Gardaphe investigates the role of the gangster in their films, as well as the literature of such great Italian American writers as Mario Puzo and Gay Talese. By looking at the cultural icon of the gangster through the lens of gender and masculinity From Wiseguys to Wise Men presents new insights into material that has been part of American culture for close to 100 years.
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| Subject
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University of South Alabama
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| Subject
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American fiction-- 20th century-- History and criticism.
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Gangster films-- United States-- History and criticism.
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Gangsters in literature.
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Italian Americans in literature.
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Masculinity in literature.
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American fiction.
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Gangster films.
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Gangsterfilm
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Gangsters in literature.
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Italian Americans in literature.
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Italiener
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Krimineller
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Literatur
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Männlichkeit
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Masculinity in literature.
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Italiener.
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United States.
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USA.
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| Dewey Classification
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813/.509556
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| LC Classification
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PS374.G36G37 2006
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