Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/sic/1.11.lc.3
Middle-Aged Men’s Traumas and Elusive Freedom in Hanif Kureishi’s Short Stories
Vesna Ukić Košta
; University of Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
This paper sets out to explore a notion of freedom that Hanif Kureishi articulates in his short stories, focusing particularly on the collections Love in a Blue Time (1997) and Midnight All Day (1999). Kureishi’s stories almost always narrated from the point of view of a middle-aged man are here analysed in the light of Zygmunt Baumann’s theories of liquid modernity and liquid love. The paper attempts to demonstrate that these men are confined to a sort of a perpetual treadmill of misery. It is argued that most protagonists of his stories are largely unable to manage their lives and relationships, living in a contemporary world that allows individuals to enjoy excesses of freedom and infinite possibilities.
Keywords
Hanif Kureishi, short story, middle-aged, freedom, liquid modernity, liquid love, family
Hrčak ID:
248284
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2020.
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