Literature after Postmodernism: Reconstructive Fantasies PDF
Preview Literature after Postmodernism: Reconstructive Fantasies
Literature after Postmodernism Also by Irmtraud Huber AESTHETICS OF AUTHENTICITY (co-editor with Wolfgang Funk and Florian Groß) Literature after Postmodernism Reconstructive Fantasies Irmtraud Huber University of Berne, Switzerland © Irmtraud Huber 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-42990-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-49197-1 ISBN 978-1-137-42991-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137429919 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India. To new beginnings This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements viii List of Abbreviations x Introduction: Epitaph on a Ghost, or the Impossible End of Postmodernism 1 Part I Tracing Shifts 1 Post-post, Beyond and Back: Literature in the Wake of Postmodernism 21 2 Pragmatic Fantasies: From Subversion to Reconstruction 51 Part II Reconstructive Readings 3 Leaving the Postmodernist Labyrinth: Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves 79 4 The Quest for Narrative Reconstruction: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated 113 5 Escaping Towards History: Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 148 6 Dreaming of Reconstruction: David Mitchell’s number9dream 181 Conclusion: The Coming of Age of Reconstruction 215 Notes 255 Works Cited 267 Index 277 vii Acknowledgements Every book project is a journey on a wide ocean of uncertainties, and such a journey cannot be undertaken without the support of many people. My haven, from which I embarked on this voyage into the unknown, has been my family, who helped me prepare for the voyage and saw me off. I always knew that had I faltered and become lost at sea, they would have come to find me and bring me home. The ship on which I travelled has been the English Department of the University of Berne, and I could have wished for no better craft to take me on my journey. I owe much gratitude to all its members, for their con- stant support, warmth and comfort. In particular I would like to thank Dr Ursula Kluwick and Melanie Mettler, who are perhaps best described as my benevolent winds. They filled my sails and gently blew me on when they saw me travelling in the right direction and equally gently but decisively set me on the right track if I steered the wrong way. I thank the members of the department’s peer review group for being my navigating instruments, my sextant, map and chronometer, as our discussions always allowed me to locate my position and to adjust my course. I owe much to my fellow traveller, Dr Wolfgang Funk, who went on a journey parallel to mine. Every meeting has given me new courage and new ideas, and made me feel less alone on the wide, uncer- tain ocean. My stopover at Columbia University, New York, which was kindly funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, allowed me to restock my provisions and add profitably to my cargo, and I am very grateful to Professor Bruce Robbins for inviting me into that particular port of call. As my journey was drawing to a close and with the port of destina- tion in sight, I was joined by my pilot Philipp Moll, whom I will always trust to steer me safely through all dangers and who welcomed me to the warmth of a new home. I owe much gratitude to Dr Christina Rickli, who with a sharp eye helped me find and mend all holes and faults in my wares, and to my student helpers Waylon Weber, Claudine Bollinger and Ettore Trento, who meticulously polished their surface. I am very grateful to the German Association of University Teachers of English (Deutscher Anglistenverband) for kindly awarding my work the Helene- Richter-Prize, founded by Franz K. Stanzel. Such a reward for the result of my journey was more than I could have hoped for. viii Acknowledgements ix But the guiding spirit that presided over the whole of my journey has been my supervisor Professor Dr Virginia Richter, to whom I could always turn for advice and who never allowed me to lose faith in myself. I owe her the deepest gratitude for her sure and firm guidance, her criti- cal eye, and her unwavering support.
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