Plurality, Hegemonic Masculinity, and Hyperreality in Postmodern American Fiction: A Case Study of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho

Abstract

The dissertation argues that the Postmodern American Society is associated with a transcending hyperrealist perception of the world as proliferated technology, media, and images galvanize an obscure inception of reality. Literature attempts to critique the social foundations of society in a sense of reflection; Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991) addresses the postmodernism of American society through the labyrinth of the protagonist, Patrick Bateman. The designated approach of analysis examines through a Baudrillardian reading the concepts of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality with the implications of individuality in the Spectacle, and highlight the relativism of truth excreted in postmodernism through the novel. In addition, the work investigates the concept of Hegemonic Masculinity and its impact on society. As it examines the construction and perpetuation of gender norms and power dynamics that contribute to gender-based violence, discrimination, and inequality across the scope of related parties within societal hierarchies. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature, the research will bring forth key theoretical perspectives to better understand masculinity with an attempt to investigate its historical and cultural background. By analyzing what feminist sociologist have established in researches of Criminology and Gender studies in order to highlight the implications of Hegemonic Masculinity in various spheres of society, including media, politics, and the workplace, and the extent of its influence on societies as well as individuals.