Well, after narrowing down the topic I want to focus on and looking at the definition of “setting,” here goes nothing! This is still in the works and I need to read more about this but I would love ideas and suggestions if anyone has any, please!
Setting in The Postcard Killers plays a major role with setting and understanding character’s roles. The beginning of the Postcard Killer’s murders began in the United States and the move onward to all regions of Europe. Within this paper, I would also like to compare the cultural boundaries and walls between Jacob and the Swedish police because of their different exposures to the United States and Europe. Throughout the book it is evident that Jacob has a concrete opinion of how the European police work versus how he works back in the United States. Jacob is often labeled as “the American” and the European characters have a similar title related to their background. Jacob’s anger obviously surrounds his daughter’s vicious murder, but it is also directed at the law and agents he is working with across the ocean. The setting seems to displace Jacob and make him an outsider, especially with language because he cannot understand Swedish. Nationality is something people hold onto to stand their ground and the characters in the book, except Dessie, cannot stray from it because nationality is learned. It is based around setting in the way that the European characters have specific nationalities and Jacob has his own American nationality, thus differences and boundaries are created. There are no moments when the European and American characters don’t act their nationality. In this paper I will research how setting highlights the traditional associates with Europe and the United States and how the characters use their nationalities to define themselves.
Bhabha, Homi K. Nation and Narration. London: Routledge, 1990. Print.
Bhabha gives an analysis of cultural differences and how international perspectives are created. Interestingly, she incorporates Benedict Anderson and how he views modern nationalism as taking up space in novels. I like this book becayse Bhabha connects literature and narratives, like heroic narratives, to the development of real-life nationalism and the process of an one’s identity on a national level. I want to use this source to compare earlier literature to more modern literature and the effects they have on an individuals understanding of nationality and their surroundings.
Lee, Yueh-Ting, Clark R. McCauley, and Juris G. Draguns. Personality and Person Perception Across Cultures. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1999. Print.
This book will help me understand the differences between human biological characteristics (personality), which is at a more individual level, versus the study of culture, which focuses on characteristics within a group. Luckily, there are chapters that apply characteristics cross-culturally so this will be helpful. In many ways, this book is written for someone who would be studying or working in a different culture and it wants to prep the reader about why cultures are nationality diverse. This piece of work will help me understand why particular characteristics of a culture remain consistent overtime and as to how they are created and associated with the region.
Miller, David. On Nationality. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995. Print.
This book really breaks down nationality as a concept and it deconstructs the sub-categories of the topic. This will help my paper as a while because it will give me a solid foundation of how nationality shapes a society and the people. For example, some national identities create a hierarchy of power within that given region, which are then applied to other countries, like a cross-comparison as to who is more worthy and powerful. I can connect this to the relationship between American and Europe overtime. Miller also talks about government security, loyalties, and allegiances, which obviously shape the people inhabiting this particular location. This book will further help me understand nationality behind politics, leaders, and tensions between bodies of land.
Özkırımlı, Umut. Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. New York: St. Martin's, 2000. Print.
What I find interesting about this book is that the introduction states that nationalism is a passing phase in the modern centuries. Yet, The Postcard Killers show the tensions between people of different nations. Nationalism is talked about through various ideas, which include: war, ethnic conflicts, and crises. If I decide to gather real historical events then they will pair up well with the groundwork of nationality from this source. The author includes a modernist perspective from modernist scholars about the theories of nationalism, such as Benedict Anderson.
Ruland, Richard. American in Modern European Literature: From Image to Metaphor.
New York: New York UP, 1976. Print.
This source talks about the invention of American by the Europeans, historically and within literature. It shows what American has symbolized over periods of time, including speculation on the twentieth century. From a European literature perspective, America’s image fluctuates as an image of power, freedom, and more. Like the others, this book incorporates works of literature and historical events that show the change of America through history, social aspects, and within literature. I would like to somehow connect this to The Postcard Killers when Jacob goes back to the United States and how this setting differs from his European one.
If anyone needs good sites to go to for online articles or information then check out Wordcat!
