The Cambridge introduction to postmodern fiction

241 Pages·2009·1.319 MB·English

by  Bran Nicol

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,
postmodernism andstalkingincontemporaryculture.

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-13 978-0-511-63810-7 eBook (Dawsonera)
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
Whatpostmod ernfictiondoes 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