Die Auslöschung der Welt: Steven Millhausers Martin Dressler und die Architektur des amerikanischen Traums

Authors

  • Zeno Ackermann

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5283/copas.68

Abstract

Critics such as Douglas Fowler have suggested that the work of Steven Millhauser deviates from current mainstream American fiction by daring to be "art for art's sake." At the same time, Millhauser's acclaimed 1996 novel Martin Dressler“ directly addresses and skillfully assesses the ideology of the "American dream." The essay shows how Millhauser's text - which paradoxically constitutes a fantastical novel of manners - uses the metaphor of architecture to integrate ideological concerns and aesthetic experimentation. Eventually, Martin Dressler “turns out to be a versatile critique of the cliché that capitalist enterprise realizes an excess of creative individualism. 

Author Biography

Zeno Ackermann

CVZeno Ackermann studied history, English and American Studies at the University of Regensburg and at the University of Aberdeen. He received an MA degree in 1996 and a PhD in 2001, both from the University of Regensburg. From 1996 to 2001 he worked as a lecturer and research assistant in the department of English and American Studies at Regensburg. He is currently working with a program in youth education on the history and implications of Nazism. His research interests include: genre theory; the relationship of aesthetics and ideology; culture and politics in the antebellum American South; travel literature; didactic approaches to Germany's National Socialist past.

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How to Cite

Ackermann, Zeno. “Die Auslöschung Der Welt: Steven Millhausers Martin Dressler Und Die Architektur Des Amerikanischen Traums”. Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, vol. 3, Mar. 2012, doi:10.5283/copas.68.

Issue

Vol. 3 (2002)

Section

Articles

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Creative Commons License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.