Date of Award
5-10-2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Christopher Kocela
Second Advisor
Dr. Paul Schmidt
Third Advisor
Dr. Mark Noble
Abstract
In Dharma Bums (1958), by Jack Kerouac, and Americana (1971), by Don DeLillo, the authors explore the complexity of selfhood as pertaining to individual identity and subjectivity in mid-twentieth century American culture and consciousness, paying specific attention to the relation that these concepts have with media, spatiality, and Buddhism. Although numerous critics provide extensive analyses of these texts, authors, and themes, no critic has paired these texts and authors, and investigated these particular themes in relation to selfhood. I argue that in Dharma Bums and Americana, Kerouac and DeLillo each investigate the influence of media, spatiality, and Buddhism on selfhood, as well as provide competing models of selfhood that offer either self-transformation or self-limitation.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/5530815
Recommended Citation
Gregor, Alex Ryan, "Kerouac's Dharma Bums (1958) & DeLillo's Americana (1971): An Investigation of the Influences of Media, Spatiality, & Buddhism on Selfhood in Mid-twentieth-century American Culture & Consciousness." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2014.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/5530815