一九八五年，在一場關於他的半自傳小說《男孩故事》(1982)的訪談中，艾德蒙．懷特(Edmund White)談論到他將自己的同性戀主角──即他年輕時的自己──描繪成一個「扭曲」(deformed)的男孩之意圖(McCaffery and Gregory 20)。根據懷特本人的說法，雖然他的部份同性戀讀者們期盼懷特能寫出一個能代表他們的正向榜樣，懷特卻選擇了要寫實地描繪出美國二十世紀中期對於他自己以及他所認識的男同性戀者們之影響，因為對於懷特來說，這段時期是一段扭曲畸形的年代。雖然懷特主要的受眾是男同性戀者，一些當代異性戀評論家也發現懷特的半自傳小說與他們身為男性的經驗產生共鳴(McCaffery and Gregory 20)。並且，正如本研究將論證的，在這段歷史時期中生活過的男性們想必也會感受到這種共鳴，因為懷特的小說與有關男性氣概的當代問題息息相關。綜上所述，分析懷特的小說想必能進一步增進我們對男性與男性氣概之間的關係之理解，因為這些小說顯然地捕捉到了美國二十世紀中後期男性在當代男性氣概影響下的生活體驗之本質。
本文的主要分析文本為艾德蒙．懷特的《男孩故事》(1982)以及《美麗的空屋》(1988)。這兩本小說描繪了一位未命名的同性戀敘事者──懷特年輕時的自己──在美國二十世紀中期中的成長故事。受啟發於克萊夫·鮑德溫的文學男性氣概研究方法，本文在第一章中以建立有關二十世紀中期美國男性氣概的相關背景為始。由於當代對於傳統性別角色的崇尚，二十世紀中期通常被認為是一個「從眾」(Conformity)的年代。然而，通過對於相關文化史學的考察，會發現這一時期關於男性氣概的諸多定義遠比一般認知的性別角色來得更加複雜且模糊。在第一章建立了本時期男性氣概的相關背景後，本文的第二章將專注於懷特的主角，在他的父母、精神科醫師與同齡男孩們的影響下，習得並內化當代恐同的男性氣概觀念。最後，本文將探討懷特是如何描繪男同性戀者們，在內化了當代男性氣概觀念後，如何在他們與當代社會環境的互動中將這些觀念付諸實施。懷特的描寫展現了美國二十世紀中期的男性氣概對於男同性戀者們以及他們身邊的人們所帶來的毀滅性影響。然而，通過他對於石牆起義(Stonewall Uprising)的描寫，懷特也展示了一種通過相互支持來擺脫男性氣概觀念束縛的潛在途徑。我相信，本文對於懷特小說的分析方式有潛能能夠幫助我們理解男性如何與當代男性氣概思想互動、這些互動所帶來的後果、以及能夠解放男性免於這些男性氣概觀念禁錮的潛在方法。

In a 1985 interview mainly concerned with his semi-autobiographical novel A Boy's Own Story (1982), Edmund White spoke about the intention behind his depiction of his homosexual protagonist—i.e. his younger self—as someone who has been "deformed" (McCaffery and Gregory 20). Rather than meeting some of his homosexual readers' demand for a positive gay role model, White decided, he said, to adopt the realistic aim of showing how the mid-twentieth century in America was a "deforming period" to him and his fellow homosexual men (McCaffery and Gregory 20). While White's main target demographic was homosexual men, some contemporary heterosexual reviewers also find his novels resonating with their experiences of being men (Christopher 37; Henderson 79). And, as will be argued in this thesis, this relatability is likely not exclusive to these reviewers but felt by other men living in the same period as well, for White's novels are highly related to contemporary issues concerning masculinity. Therefore, an analysis of White's novels will certainly further our understanding of men's relationship with notions of masculinity, for these novels have evidently captured the essence of men's lived experience of masculinity in the second half of twentieth-century America.
The primary texts under analysis in this thesis are Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story (1982) and The Beautiful Room is Empty (1988). These two novels depict the coming-of-age experience of an unnamed homosexual narrator, a representation of White's younger self, in mid-century America. Adopting Clive Baldwin's approach to researching literary masculinity representations, this thesis starts, in Chapter One, by establishing the general contexts of mid-century American manhood. This period is generally considered an age of conformity due to people's idolization of traditional gender roles. Yet, an examination of the relevant cultural historiography will reveal that ideas regarding masculinity in this period were complex and ambiguous and went beyond the conventional static prescriptions of gender roles. After the contexts of masculine notions in this period have been established in Chapter One, Chapter Two of this thesis will focus on how White's protagonist acquires and internalizes his contemporary homophobic ideas of masculinity through the influences of his parents, his psychiatrist, and other boys his age. Lastly, Chapter Three will explore White's depiction of how homosexual men in the mid-century, with the contemporary ideas of masculinity internalized in their minds, put these ideas into practice in their interactions with their contemporary society. White's depictions present the disastrous effects of contemporary notions of masculinity on homosexual men and their surrounding people in mid-century America. Yet, through his depiction of the Stonewall Uprising, White also shows a potential way for men to free themselves from the shackles of masculine notions through mutual support. This mode of analysis of White's novels has the potential, I believe, to further our understanding of how men engage with their contemporary notions of masculinity, of the consequences of these engagements, and of the potential way to free men from the imprisonment of these masculine notions.

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