Strange Masks of Adapted Identities in Patrick McCabe’s Winterwood and The Holy City

• Patrick McCabe’s novels dramatize how people make use of character archetypes, media ideals, and fiction to adapt to new realities. These concerns are especially notable in two of his later novels, The Holy City and Winterwood. In the protagonists’ process of social adaptation, they illustrate how the construction of self-identity is defined by narration, and how a world in flux demands constant re-negotiation of the narrative and adaptation to the new story to make self-identity, life patterns, and their contexts match. In effect, the narratives suggest that engagement in media adaptations can guide audiences to find strategies for social adaptation.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Litteraturvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- General Literary Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialpsykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Psychology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Identity

Self-narration

Socialization

Reception

Patrick McCabe

Patrick McCabe

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)