“The Excusive Cormac McCarthy: Recent Critical Approaches”

Abstract

The case for McCarthy to be treated seriously by the Korean academic community is, in this reviewer’s opinion, irrefutable. The writer’s multi-dimensional themes invite a panoply of theoretical and critical interpretation—whether these take the form of new criticism, new historicism, marxist, deconstructionist, feminist, eco-critical, or post-structuralist approaches. Because of his interesting mix of genre, exciting action, pared-down language and elevated style, he is a delight to read and study at the same time. His blending of different forms—especially the romance-epic and bildungsroman—lend themselves particularly well to post-structural concerns about narrative undecidability, subjective contingency, and reflexivity (McCarthy once said: “books are made out of other books”). Moreover, his generally accessible style, along with the fact that a lot of his novels have been turned into film, is ideal for undergraduate and graduate study. All in all, it is time for a serious appraisal of McCarthy in Korean academia. Therefore, the review discusses McCarthy within the context of recent critical approaches to this important writer.