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The figure of the gangster is exemplary for American culture but also highly ambivalent. The pursuit of individual desires with a distinct coolness defines the gangster as a model of the American dream. The brutality, ruthlessness, and bloodshed along the path of success, however, also speak to the violence of a dream turned into a nightmare. As a moral tale, gangster fiction often complicates the myth of the American dream by having its protagonists first succeed and then fail. This seminar will examine the history of the gangster figure in American fiction and explore its often formulaic depiction as well as its subversive incarnations. We will not only look at such classical novels as The Godfather (1969) or the works of Elmore Leonard but also examine lesser known texts. This seminar aims to broaden the scope of an often understudied genre by including graphic novels, short stories, and poems to explore the multitude of gangster figures in American fiction. |
