Description
Book SynopsisHow do we as Americans define our identities? How do our stories represent who we are-our successes, our failures, our past, our future? Stories of redemption are some of the most powerful ways to express American identity and all that it can entail, from pain and anguish to joy and fulfillment. Psychologist Dan P. McAdams examines how these narratives, in which the hero is delivered from suffering to an enhanced status or state, represent a new psychology of American identity, and in turn, how they translate to understanding our own lives. In this revised and expanded edition of The Redemptive Self, McAdams shows how redemptive stories promote psychological health and civic engagement among contemporary American adults. He reveals how different kinds of redemptive stories compete for favor in American society, as presented in a dramatic case study comparing the life stories constructed by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. McAdams provides new insight on race and religion in
Table of ContentsPrologue How To Be Good in America ; Chapter 1 Redemption and the American Soul ; Chapter 2 The Generative Adult ; Chapter 3 Life Stories ; Chapter 4 How the Story Begins: The Chosen People ; Chapter 5 My Good Inner Self: From Emerson to Oprah ; Chapter 6 God Bless America ; Chapter 7 Black (and White) ; Chapter 8 Contaminated Plots, Vicious Circles ; Chapter 9 When Redemption Fails ; Chapter 10 Obama versus Bush: Competing Stories of Redemption ; Chapter 11 Culture, Narrative, and the Self ; Epilogue Final Thoughts and Confessions ; Notes ; References ; Index
