Pregnancy in Literature and Film

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by Parley Ann Boswell

Type

Studies

Subject

Sociology

Keywords

sociology, women, representation

Publishing date

2014

Publisher

McFarland & Co

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 248 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

978-0-7864-7366-3

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Book Presentation:
This exploration of the ways in which pregnancy affects narrative begins with two canonical American texts, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1848) and Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). Relying on such diverse works as Frankenstein, Peyton Place, Beloved, and I Love Lucy, the book chronicles how pregnancy evolves from a conventional plot device into a mature narrative form.

Especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, the pregnancy narrative in fiction and film acts as a lightning rod with the power to electrify all genres of fiction and film, from early melodrama (Way Down East) to noir (Leave Her to Heaven); from horror (Rosemary’s Baby) to science fiction and dystopia (Alien, The Handmaid’s Tale); and from iconic (Lolita) to independent (Juno, Precious). Ultimately, the pregnancy narrative in popular film and fiction provides a remarkably clear lens by which we can gauge how popular American film and fiction express our most profound—and most private—fears, values and hopes.

About the Author:
Parley Ann Boswell is a professor of English at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, where she teaches American literature and film studies courses. She lives in Monticello, Illinois.

See the publisher website: McFarland & Co