Decline And Revitalization:The Outlook Of Carver For A New Type Of Masculinity In Cathedral

Raymond Carver,as a novelist after World War II,is famous for his short stories,and his special technique of minimalism is famous in the literary circle,known as the Chekov of the United States.In addition,Carver,as the representative of the American working class,portrays the numb “blue collar” who has lost hope.Cathedral,as a mature work of Carver’s late period,focuses on the American blue-collar class with minimalist techniques,showing their pain and hopelessness,while also showing the characteristics of previous works,such as a more positive theme,more detailed story details.However,previous studies on Carver’s works mainly focus on the writing techniques and themes of minimalism,and the study on Cathedral is no exception.There are few studies on the positive and optimistic story theme and gender writing in Cathedral.Even the gender studies tend to focus on the feminist studies in Carver’s works,while the studies on men or masculinity,as the opposite of women,are very rare.Based on Cornell’s masculinity theory,this paper explores the characteristics of American masculinity in Carver’s works in the 1970 s and 1980 s,namely,the dissolution of traditional male hegemony temperament and Carver’s outlook on new masculinity.The first part of the first chapter of this paper will introduce the life of Raymond Carver and his short story collection Cathedral,the second part will describe the background and purpose of the topic,and the third part will introduce the theoretical framework of this paper.Next,the literature at home and abroad is reviewed.The second chapter will explore Carver’s role description,he depicts in different ways the gradual disappearance of the social phenomenon of dominant masculinity.As the ideal temperament of patriarchal society,dominant masculinity objectifies women,advocates competition,advocates stoicism,and fears non-heterosexual groups.In Cathedral,Carver captures the trend of his time,which is the decline of masculinity,and his characters are,to some extent,the personification of himself in the work.Carver shows this decline in a number of ways,with the help of his male characters.First,Carver’s male characters renounce toxic masculinity;Secondly,Carver’s description of emotional and vulnerable men;There are depictions of marginal men.In addition,Carver describes the awakening of female characters who think and act beyond the consciousness of the male subject.The third chapter discusses the change of masculinity in the text interpretation of Carver’s novel Cathedral.Faced with the inevitable decline of dominant masculinity,and their own inability to construct it,Carver’s male characters adopt different strategies to cope with this decline.Some male characters choose to disguise themselves and show their concern for women on the surface,but in fact continue to exploit women and maintain the unequal gender order,showing complicit masculinity in this process.Some choose to exile themselves away from the center of power,do not exploit women,marginal self,showing a marginal masculinity.Chapter four will explore Carver’s expectations for new and open masculinity in Cathedral.Neither complicit masculinity nor marginal masculinity,in Carver’s view,are substitutes for dominant masculinity,but rather,they even maintain the traditional gender order.As a representative work of the late period,Cathedral not only shows the anxiety and stress reaction of male characters in the face of the decline of traditional dominant masculinity,but also shows Carver’s own outlook on the new masculinity.This new masculinity is a more positive masculinity,an open masculinity,an empathetic masculinity,a future-oriented masculinity.The last chapter is the conclusion.Raymond Carver,an important novelist during the period of American stagflation,reflected the “manhood crisis” in his works.Carver’s novel Cathedral reveals the male crisis of its time by subverting and reexamining traditional gender consciousness.This work expands the aesthetic field of modern society and offers a more diverse way of life,while also providing new avenues for male aesthetic expression.