I denne study guide kan du få hjæp til at analysere novellen "My Girl in Skin-Tight Jeans" af William Boyd. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “My Girl in Skin-Tight Jeans” (1981)
Forfatter: William Boyd
Genre: Short story
William Boyd er født i Ghana, men er af skotsk afstamning. Han er en anerkendt forfatter, som har modtaget adskillige prestigefyldt litteraturpriser.
"My Girl in Skin-Tight Jeans" blev udgivet i 1981 som en del af novellesamlingen On the Yankee Station.
Uddrag
Nedenfor kan du læse et kort uddrag fra vores study guide til teksten:
Title
The title of the short story “My Girl in Skin-Tight Jeans” by William Boyd is ironic, as it creates the false expectation that the story’s main character is a girl, who could perhaps be the narrator’s girlfriend. The narrator uses only an article of clothing to describe her, and the possessive pronoun “my”, both of which are objectifying and suggest that the girl is seen as a status symbol or sexual object rather than as a real person.
As we read on, we realize that the story revolves around the male narrator. Although the focus of most of his thoughts and feelings is a mysterious girl, it gradually becomes obvious that she is not a real person, but comes from an ad on a billboard.
The title is ironic because of the possessive pronoun “my” which indicates the narrator’s supposed ownership of the girl featured on the billboard. In his obsession, he does think of her as a real person, but only in simple terms, which engage his fantasies. The title is symbolic of the narrator’s troubled personality and provides a first glimpse into the way in which he sees the world.
