This study explores the concept of fetishism as a strategy for expressing social and political discontent in American literature, and for negotiating traumatic experiences particular to the second half of the twentieth century.

PART I: FETISHISM FROM THEORY TO FICTION A Parallax History of Fetish Theory No Ideas but in Fetishes: Reed's Mumbo Jumbo PART II: FICTIONS OF THE FEMALE FETISH Queering Lesbian Fetishism in Pynchon's V. Resighting Gender Theory: Butler's Lesbian Phallus in Acker's Pussy PART III: POMO-PORNOLOGIES Domesticating Fantasy: S/M Fetishism and Coover's Spanking the Maid Narrating the Death Drive: Automotive S intho Mosexuality and John Hawkes's Travesty Conclusion: Longing on a Large Scale: Underworld and Europe Central