Designs of Darkness in Contemporary American Fiction /
Saltzman, Arthur M.
Designs of Darkness in Contemporary American Fiction / Arthur M. Saltzman. - Reprint 2016 - 1 online resource (158 p.) - Penn Studies in Contemporary American Fiction .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction: A De-Meaning Poetics -- 2. Epiphany and Its Discontents -- 3. Deregulating Histories -- 4. De(in)forming the Plot -- 5. Opacity, Resistance, and the Uncommunicative Text -- 6. The End of Value? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Backmatter
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
This study examines some of the ways in which fiction has traditionally conspired to promote a goal-oriented vision of a work of art and explores the ways in which postmodern (or postrealist) fiction consistently and unavoidably subverts the clarity of this vision. Offering readings of works by well-known authors, including Barthelme, Doctorow, DeLillo and Hawkes, as well as works by lesser-known writers (Auster, Gangemi), Arthur M. Saltzman concentrates on the breakdown of epiphany in recent fiction, both as philosophical motive and structural foundation. In contemporary fiction, Saltzman contends, ambiguities blossom far beyond our capacities to stabilize, summarize or restore them to sense. The old rules of the game--in which a reader looking for Truth can expect some sort of satisfactory resolution--no longer apply.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780812230512 9781512806687
10.9783/9781512806687 doi
American fiction--History and criticism.--20th century
Light and darkness in literature.
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.
PS374.L47
813.509
Designs of Darkness in Contemporary American Fiction / Arthur M. Saltzman. - Reprint 2016 - 1 online resource (158 p.) - Penn Studies in Contemporary American Fiction .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction: A De-Meaning Poetics -- 2. Epiphany and Its Discontents -- 3. Deregulating Histories -- 4. De(in)forming the Plot -- 5. Opacity, Resistance, and the Uncommunicative Text -- 6. The End of Value? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Backmatter
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
This study examines some of the ways in which fiction has traditionally conspired to promote a goal-oriented vision of a work of art and explores the ways in which postmodern (or postrealist) fiction consistently and unavoidably subverts the clarity of this vision. Offering readings of works by well-known authors, including Barthelme, Doctorow, DeLillo and Hawkes, as well as works by lesser-known writers (Auster, Gangemi), Arthur M. Saltzman concentrates on the breakdown of epiphany in recent fiction, both as philosophical motive and structural foundation. In contemporary fiction, Saltzman contends, ambiguities blossom far beyond our capacities to stabilize, summarize or restore them to sense. The old rules of the game--in which a reader looking for Truth can expect some sort of satisfactory resolution--no longer apply.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780812230512 9781512806687
10.9783/9781512806687 doi
American fiction--History and criticism.--20th century
Light and darkness in literature.
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.
PS374.L47
813.509