Texas Tech University

American Voices and American Identities

HurstLanguageGender

Book Description: 

Language, Gender, and Community in Late Twentieth-Century Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) by Mary Jane Hurst is a First Prize Winner of the President's Book Award. This study establishes the centrality of language, gender, and community in contemporary American fiction. Close readings of novels by Alice Walker, Ernest Gaines, Ann Beattie, John Updike, Chang-rae Lee, Louise Erdrich, Denise Chavez, Rudolfo Anaya, and others explore how identities and voices are constructed and reflected in literature.

Mary Jane Hurst

Author Bio: 

Mary Jane Hurst, Professor of English and ACE Fellow, earned her B.A. from Miami University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. At TTU since 1986, she has won teaching awards, published more than fifty books, articles, essays, chapters, and reviews, founded TTU's Phi Beta Kappa Chapter, and served in numerous administrative capacities.