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2. Postmodernism

  • Hanjo Berressem
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Handbook of the American Novel of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
This chapter is in the book Handbook of the American Novel of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract

Postmodernist literature, which is more than a direct response to modernism, develops gradually after the politicized literature of the 1960s. It comes into its own between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, after which it is gradually replaced by a ‘neo-realist’ literature. One strand of postmodernist literature, ‘metafiction,’ finds much of its inspiration in the contemporaneous philosophical movement of poststructuralism. It highlights the act of writing and formal experimentation and withholds mainstream literary elements such as believable characters, a realistic, engaging plot, and a clear sense of an ending. Another strand, ‘fabulation’ or ‘historiographic metafiction,’ develops new modes of narration and highlights new strategies of re-writing American, and, in extension, global history. Both strands make use of irony and humor, and often playfully appropriate and subvert pop-cultural genres. These genres include the historical novel, the war novel, and detective fiction, whose logic of ‘solutions’ they counter with a logic of ‘dissolutions’ in the ‘anti-detective novel’ or the ‘metaphysical detective novel.’

Abstract

Postmodernist literature, which is more than a direct response to modernism, develops gradually after the politicized literature of the 1960s. It comes into its own between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, after which it is gradually replaced by a ‘neo-realist’ literature. One strand of postmodernist literature, ‘metafiction,’ finds much of its inspiration in the contemporaneous philosophical movement of poststructuralism. It highlights the act of writing and formal experimentation and withholds mainstream literary elements such as believable characters, a realistic, engaging plot, and a clear sense of an ending. Another strand, ‘fabulation’ or ‘historiographic metafiction,’ develops new modes of narration and highlights new strategies of re-writing American, and, in extension, global history. Both strands make use of irony and humor, and often playfully appropriate and subvert pop-cultural genres. These genres include the historical novel, the war novel, and detective fiction, whose logic of ‘solutions’ they counter with a logic of ‘dissolutions’ in the ‘anti-detective novel’ or the ‘metaphysical detective novel.’

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Systematic Questions
  6. 1. Modernism 21
  7. 2. Postmodernism 35
  8. 3. Cultural Diversity 52
  9. 4. Intermediality 68
  10. 5. Inter-American Perspectives 84
  11. 6. The American Novel and the Marketplace 98
  12. 7. Futures of the American Novel 113
  13. Part II. Close Readings
  14. 8. Henry James, The Ambassadors (1903) 131
  15. 9. Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918) 148
  16. 10. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) 162
  17. 11. John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (1925) 177
  18. 12. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926) 192
  19. 13. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (1936) 206
  20. 14. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood (1936) 222
  21. 15. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 237
  22. 16. Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) 250
  23. 17. Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men (1946) 264
  24. 18. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 278
  25. 19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952) 294
  26. 20. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) 308
  27. 21. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) 322
  28. 22. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977) 337
  29. 23. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984) 351
  30. 24. Don DeLillo, White Noise (1985) 361
  31. 25. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) 374
  32. 26. Philip Roth, American Pastoral (1997) 388
  33. 27. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005) 401
  34. 28. Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006) 414
  35. 29. Louise Erdrich, The Round House (2012) 427
  36. Index of Subjects 443
  37. Index of Names 447
  38. List of Contributors 459
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110422429-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Systematic Questions
  6. 1. Modernism 21
  7. 2. Postmodernism 35
  8. 3. Cultural Diversity 52
  9. 4. Intermediality 68
  10. 5. Inter-American Perspectives 84
  11. 6. The American Novel and the Marketplace 98
  12. 7. Futures of the American Novel 113
  13. Part II. Close Readings
  14. 8. Henry James, The Ambassadors (1903) 131
  15. 9. Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918) 148
  16. 10. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925) 162
  17. 11. John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer (1925) 177
  18. 12. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926) 192
  19. 13. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (1936) 206
  20. 14. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood (1936) 222
  21. 15. John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) 237
  22. 16. Richard Wright, Native Son (1940) 250
  23. 17. Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men (1946) 264
  24. 18. Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 278
  25. 19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952) 294
  26. 20. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) 308
  27. 21. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) 322
  28. 22. Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977) 337
  29. 23. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984) 351
  30. 24. Don DeLillo, White Noise (1985) 361
  31. 25. Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987) 374
  32. 26. Philip Roth, American Pastoral (1997) 388
  33. 27. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005) 401
  34. 28. Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006) 414
  35. 29. Louise Erdrich, The Round House (2012) 427
  36. Index of Subjects 443
  37. Index of Names 447
  38. List of Contributors 459
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