Who is the most remarkable person you know?

Other than you.

If that makes the answer more difficult, you’re not alone.

Professor of English Michelle Massé, Director of the LSU Women's and Gender Studies Program

“In our heart of hearts, we all want to believe we’re smarter than the average bear,” says professor of English Michelle Massé, whose current research explores the literary genre of Bildungsroman, novels of personal development in which the protagonist comes to terms with his or her wish for greatness.

We may be drawn to such stories, suggests Massé, because they whisper something we long to hear: “We’re geniuses, if only someone will recognize it.”

Although framed by an imposing German moniker, the Bildungsroman is a common and familiar literary form. In its traditional focus on the development of young (and frequently white male) heroes, both the characters of Harry Potter and Huck Finn typify the genre. Other examples include James Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in the novel with that title, and D.H. Lawrence’s Paul Morel in Sons and Lovers.

In the stereotypical storyline, the young protagonist surmounts a series of obstacles in his formative years. He is characteristically driven by a notion of his own greatness, even if this faith is not shared by others in his life. The classic story of development “ends” with the hero in his prime, his place and bright future assured.

It’s a comforting tale to many. But for Massé, feminist scholar and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Bildungsroman has at its center an aspect of human nature few would wish to acknowledge: the self-love of narcissism.

By looking at paired novels with male and female protagonists at every life stage, Massé examines the ways in which a culture’s encouragement of grandiose ambitions can vary, based upon gender, age, class, and race.

“My argument is that the Bildungsroman is ‘about’ narcissism, whether in mapping the path from infantile self-regard . . . or in displaying the would-be polymath’s refusal to admit limitations in career, love choice or ability.”

Massé is quick to note that self esteem is necessary and that society gives wide allowance to the young for their natural self-absorption. But when we carry this perspective into maturity, denying others more than bit parts in our own narratives, we descend into “a fantasy life of narcissism,” a world in which no rules apply to us and no penalties are paid.

Having explored the interplay between masochism and the Gothic novel in a popular previous book (In The Name of Love: Women, Masochism and the Gothic, Cornell University Press, 1992), Massé is at home at the crossroads of literary critique and psychoanalysis.

Her new work, currently titled Great Expectations (a reference to Dickens’ classic Bildungsroman novel), will further contribute to narrative theory by demonstrating how the genre “addresses a key psychoanalytic issue about human identity, one we keep asking and answering through our reading.”

Massé’s ongoing research and writing are funded in part by an ATLAS grant (Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars), made available on a competitive basis by the Louisiana Board of Regents. Massé has given numerous presentations on topics related to her research, ranging from Louisia May Alcott’s representation of childhood, to how old age is depicted in the film “Sunset Boulevard,” and has developed several professional projects, such as the Modern Language Association’s Associate Professor Project, based upon what she has learned about life stages. She looks forward to completion of the manuscript in 2009.

...from the Autumn 2008 Issue