Description

Following on from the feminist challenging of the
canon of Welsh writing in English, this book
explores masculinity in the work of several authors,
adopting the now widely accepted view that men
construct their masculinities within particular
social and historical contexts. It considers such
textual constructions in the work of several
writers, giving particular attention to their
specifically Welsh social and historical contexts.
In chapter one, Lewis Jones s fiction is assessed in
the light of issues of gender and sexuality. The
working class experience of masculinity is shown to
have been constructed by an emphasis on physical
strength. Chapter two examines Glyn Jones s The Blue
Bed, suggesting that the tensions apparent in both
the writer s life and his work highlight a concern
with the multiplication of masculine identities. The
third chapter is concerned with both the fictional
and autobiographical work of Gwyn Thomas, and
suggests that issues of gender and sexuality are
central to his writings. Chapter four concentrates
on Ron Berry s first five novels to consider the
dissatisfaction felt by men in Berry s fiction.