Exploring Postmodernism: Selected papers presented at a Workshop on Postmodernism at the XIth International Comparative Literature Congress, Paris, ... in General and Comparative Literature)

277 Pages·1988·25.148 MB·English

by  Matei Calinescu, Douwe W. Fokkema

EXPLORING POSTMODERNISM
UTRECHT PUBLICATIONS IN
GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Editorial Board
Douwe Fokkema (chairman) - Joost Kloek
Sophie Levie - Willie van Peer
Bernhard F. Scholz (secretary)
International Advisory Board
David Beilos (University of Manchester), Keith Busby (University of Oklahoma)
Matei Calinescu (Indiana University), Yves Chevrel (University of Paris-Sorbonne)
Erika Fischer-Lichte (University of Bayreuth), Armin Paul Frank (University of Göttingen)
Gerald Gillespie (Stanford University), Hendrik van Gorp (Catholic University of Louvain)
Thomas M. Greene (Yale University), Claudio Guillén (Harvard University)
Walter Haug (University of Tübingen), Linda Hutcheon (University of Toronto)
Jørgen Dines Johansen (University of Odense), Donald Maddox (University of Connecticut)
Virgil Nemoianu (Catholic University of America), Stephen G. Nichols (University of Pennsylvania)
Roland Posner (Technical University of Berlin), Maria- Alzira Seixo (University of Lisbon)
Mario J. Valdés (University of Toronto)
Utrecht Publications in General and Comparative Literature publishes studies in English which fall
into three main groups:
a) studies which approach the history and structure of literature from a supra-national point of
view;
b) theoretical studies, especially studies devoted to larger issues such as genre, periodization, sym­
bolic mode, and manner of presentation (narrative, drama and lyric);
c) methodological studies, including studies devoted to the history of poetics and literary scholar­
ship.
Inquiries and submissions should be addressed to:
The Secretary, Utrecht Publications in General and Comparative Literature
Instituut voor Algemene Literatuurwetenschap
Muntstraat 4, 3512 EV UTRECHT, The Netherlands
Volume 23
Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema (eds)
EXPLORING POSTMODERNISM
EXPLORING POSTMODERNISM
Selected papers presented at a Workshop on Postmodernism
at the Xlth International Comparative Literature Congress,
Paris, 20-24 August 1985
edited by
Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
1990
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Exploring Postmodernism: selected papers presented at a workshop on Postmodernism
at the Xlth International Comparative Literature Congress, Paris, 20-24 August 1985 /
edited by Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema.
p. cm. - (Utrecht publications in general and comparative literature, ISSN
0167-8175; v. 23)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Postmodernism - Congresses. 2. Literature, Modern - 20th century — History and
criticism - Congresses. 3. Criticism - History ~ 20th century — Congresses. I.
Calinescu, Matei. II. Fokkema, Douwe Wessel, 1931- . III. International Compara­
tive Literature Association. Congress (11th: 1985: Paris, France). IV. Series.
PN98.P67E97 1987 87-30008
809'.04--dc l9 CIP
ISBN 90 272 2200 2 (alk. paper)
© Copyright 1990 - John Benjamins B.V.
First published 1987.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or
any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
Preface
If the deferral of definite meaning is one of the characteristics of Post­
modernism, it would seem appropriate to see work on Postmodernist litera­
ture as an ongoing process. Indeed, the history of Postmodernism will
never reach a final and definite stage, but this has less to do with the fea­
tures of Postmodernist writing than with the nature of historiography.
The present volume is the second one in a series of studies on Post­
modernism. In 1986 Approaching Postmodernism (edited by Douwe Fok-
kema and Hans Bertens) appeared, containing contributions to a workshop
held in Utrecht in September 1984. Exploring Postmodernism holds the
proceedings of a workshop which took place in Paris on August 21 and 22,
1985, as part of the Xlth Congress of the International Comparative Litera­
ture Association (ICLA). In spite of the nature of Postmodernism and of
historiography, we do not plan an extensive series of similar publications.
The research, of which the results are offered here, may be an ongoing
affair, but — at the request of the Coordinating Committee of the Com
parative History of Literature in European Languages — we will attempt to
come to a provisional conclusion soon. Three years ago the Research
Center  Postmodernism — whose mailing address is that of the Instituut
voor Vergelijkende Literatuurwetenschap, University of Utrecht, Utrecht,
The Netherlands — was charged with the preparation of a volume Post­
modernism in the ICLA sponsored Comparative History, scheduled to
appear in 1989 or 1990. After the publication of the two volumes,
Approaching Postmodernism and Exploring Postmodernism, the next step
will have all appearances of being more "definite" and will certainly be
more comprehensive and cohesive.
Most contributors to the workshop are represented here with their
papers. Other participants — contributors and discussants — were: Christ­
opher Butler (Oxford), Amy Colin (Seattle), August Fry (Amsterdam),
Sally Hassan (Milwaukee), Ingeborg Hoesterey (Bloomington, Indiana),
Gerhard Hoffmann (Würzburg), Elrud Ibsch (Amsterdam), Bruce King
(Florence, Alabama), Olga Scherer (Paris), Lies Wesseling (Utrecht), and
vi PREFACE
others who attended the ICLA Congress and for a change dropped in to
enjoy the always lively debate. The two editors wish to thank the con­
tributors for keeping their promises and respecting the deadlines, and the
discussants for their valuable and spirited interventions which in some cases
led the authors to change their texts and in many other instances opened up
new vistas for future research.
The interest of the Coordinating Committee in the Postmodernism
project led to the decision to assist the editors of this volume with a grant
which they wish to acknowledge here with gratitude. We are much obliged
to the graduate students John Arnold, Ed van Eeden, and Aleid Fokkema
who checked bibliographical and other details.
Thanks are due also to the organizer of the Xlth Congress of the ICLA
in Paris, Professor Daniel Pageaux, who provided the workshop with a cool
and spacious room in the Sorbonne and who also in other respects has been
most helpful.
February 1987 Matei Calinescu (Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.)
Douwe Fokkema (University of Utrecht)
Contents
Preface ν
Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema
General Problems 1
1. Introductory Remarks: Postmodernism, the Mimetic and Theat­
rical Fallacies 3
Matei Calinescu
2. Pluralism in Postmodern Perspective 17
Ihab Hassan
3. Teleology in Postmodern Fiction 41
Mihály Szegedy-Maszák
4., Allegory, Hermeneutics, and Postmodernism 59
Mihai Spariosu
5. Postmodern Italy: Notes on the "Crisis of Reason", "Weak
Thought," and The Name of the Rose ..................................................... 79
Stefano Rosso
Analytical Criticism 93
6. New Nouns for Old: "Language" Poetry, Language Game, and
the Pleasure of the Text 95
Marjorie Perloff
7. Samuel Beckett and the Postmodernism Controversy 109
Breon Mitchell
8. The Intrusive Author in British Postmodernist Fiction: The
Cases of Alasdair Gray and Martin Amis 123
Richard Todd
9. Postmodern Characterization and the Intrusion of Language . 139
Hans Bertens
10. Popular Genre Conventions in Postmodern Fiction: The Case of
the Western 161
Theo D'haen
viii CONTENTS
11. Reading One/Self: Samuel Beckett, Thomas Bernhard, Peter
Handke, John Barth, Alain Robbe-Grillet 175
Alfred Hornung
12. Michel Leiris' Autobiography La Règle du jeu and Postmodern­
ism 199
Olav Severijnen
13. Narrative Discourse in Postmodernist Texts: The Conventions
of the Novel and the Multiplication of Narrative Instances . . . 215
Ulla Musarra
Concluding Observations: Is There a Future for Research on Post­
modernism? 233
Douwe Fokkema
Notes on the Contributors 243
References 247
Index 263
General Problems