This course will examine the literature that has been labelled ‘postmodernist’. Throughout the course we will examine the movements and moments of American postmodernist fiction, as well as some theory. The aim of the course is to provide students with a knowledge of what postmodernist literature is, as well as giving them a notion of the historicity which exists within the term. A wide variety of authors has been selected in order to present a broader view, rather than focussing on a few works.
The course is aimed at fourth semester students; higher semester students may find some aspects of the course very basic in nature.
The course is based on Postmodern American Fiction - A Norton Anthology, which has been ordered from Centerboghandlen.
1. Introduction from Postmodern American Fiction (pages ix-xxx).
2. Donald Barthelme, ‘See the Moon?’
Walter Abish, ‘Ardor/Awe/Atrocity’.
Richard Brautigan, from Trout Fishing in America.
3. Paul Auster, from City of Glass.
Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, from Paul Auster’s City of Glass.
Ihab Hassan, ‘Toward a Concept of Postmodernism’.
4. Lynda Barry, from Come Over Come Over.
Barry Gifford, from Wild at Heart.
Umberto Eco, ‘Postscript to The Name of the Rose’.
5. Tim O’Brien, from The Things They Carried.
Joseph Heller, from Catch-22.
Norman Mailer, from Armies of the Night.
6.Kathy Acker, from Great Expectations.
John Barth, from Chimera.
7.
Toni Morrison, from Beloved.
bell hooks, ‘Postmodern Blackness’.
8. Don DeLillo, from White Noise.
Neal Stephenson, from Snow Crash.
Fredric Jameson, ‘Postmodernism and Consumer Society’.
