ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an introduction to the field of study of literary masculinities. After tracing its origins and development within the broader field of masculinity studies, it continues by illustrating the field’s applications to literary criticism, showing how literature may help question traditional notions of masculinity but also point to alternative ways of being man. The chapter finishes by analyzing some of the latest debates within the field of literary masculinities. As in the case of masculinity studies in general, current studies of literary masculinities seem to be divided into identity-based and poststructuralist approaches, which this chapter illustrates through the concepts of “ethnic” and/vs. “female” masculinities, respectively.
