The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction (Cambridge Introductions to Literature) PDF
Preview The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction (Cambridge Introductions to Literature)
This page intentionally left blank TheCambridgeIntroductionto Postmodern Fiction Postmodernfictionpresentsitsreaderswithachallenge:insteadof enjoyingitpassively,theyhavetoworktounderstandit,toquestion theirownresponses,andtoexaminetheirviewsaboutwhatfictionis. Yetacceptingthischallengeiswhatmakespostmodernwritingso pleasurabletoreadandrewardingtostudy. Unlikemostintroductionstopostmodernismandfiction,thisbook placestheemphasisonliteratureratherthantheory.Itintroducesthe mostprominentBritishandAmericannovelistsassociatedwith postmodernism,fromthe‘pioneers’,Beckett,BorgesandBurroughs,to importantpost-warwriterssuchasPynchon,Carter,Atwood,Morrison, Gibson,Auster,DeLillo,andEllis.Designedforstudentsandclearly written,thisIntroductionexplainsthepreoccupations,stylesand techniquesthatunitepostmodernauthors. brannicolisReaderinModernandContemporaryLiteratureatthe UniversityofPortsmouthandhaspreviouslytaughtatLancasterand Chichester.HehaspublishedonD.M.Thomas,IrisMurdoch, postmodernismandstalkingincontemporaryculture. The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction BRAN NICOL CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521861571 © Bran Nicol 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 ISBN-13 978-0-511-64161-9 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 978-0-521-86157-1 Hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-67957-2 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. ForKaren,JoeandJamie Contents Acknowledgements pagexi Preface:readingpostmodernfiction xiii Introduction: postmodernism and postmodernity 1 Postmodernityand‘latecapitalism’ 3 Baudrillardandsimulation 4 Poststructuralism,postmodernism,and‘thereal’ 6 Sociologyandtheconstructionofreality 8 Jamesonandthecrisisinhistoricity 9 Lyotardandthedeclineofthemetanarrative 11 Ironyand‘double-coding’ 12 Chapter 1 Postmodern fiction: theory and practice 17 Anincredulitytowardsrealism 17 Whatpostmodernfictiondoes 30 Howtoreadpostmodernfiction 39 Chapter 2 Early postmodern fiction: Beckett, Borges, and Burroughs 50 SamuelBeckett 52 JorgeLuisBorges 58 WilliamBurroughs 65 vii viii Contents Chapter 3 US metafiction: Coover, Barth, Nabokov, Vonnegut, Pynchon 72 Barth’sFunhouseandCoover’sDescants 75 VladimirNabokov,PaleFire 82 KurtVonnegut,Slaughterhouse-Five 86 ThomasPynchon 89 Chapter 4 The postmodern historical novel: Fowles, Barnes, Swift 99 Historiographicmetafiction 103 Britishhistoriographicmetafiction 105 JohnFowles,TheFrenchLieutenant’sWoman 106 GrahamSwift,Waterland 112 JulianBarnes,Flaubert’sParrot 116 Chapter 5 Postmodern-postcolonial fiction 121 SalmanRushdie,Midnight’sChildren 124 ToniMorrison,Beloved 127 IshmaelReed,MumboJumbo 133 Chapter 6 Postmodern fiction by women: Carter, Atwood, Acker 140 AngelaCarter 142 MargaretAtwood 148 KathyAcker 156 Chapter 7 Two postmodern genres: cyberpunk and ‘metaphysical’ detective fiction 164 Sci-fiandcyberpunk 164 WilliamGibson,Neuromancer 167 Detectivefiction 171 JorgeLuisBorges,‘DeathandtheCompass’ 173 UmbertoEco,TheNameoftheRose 175 PaulAuster,CityofGlass 178
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