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Postmodernist Narrative Techniques
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Minimalism
Minimalism is a style or technique that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity. Examples include Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral' and the short stories of Amy Hempel.
Paranoia
A narrative element often central to postmodern literature, paranoia is the feeling that there’s an ordering system behind the chaos that is actually elusive. Thomas Pynchon's 'Gravity's Rainbow' is a prime example.
Magic Realism
Magic realism blends magical elements with the real world, suggesting a deeper reality. Examples are Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children'.
Meta-narrative
Meta-narrative is a higher-level narrative that provides the framework within which the first-order narratives might occur. For instance, the novels 'House of Leaves' by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Irony
Irony in postmodernism often showcases the contradictions inherent in society or human behavior. Notable works displaying irony include 'White Noise' by Don DeLillo and 'American Psycho' by Bret Easton Ellis.
Intertextuality
Intertextuality refers to the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. It includes the incorporation of references, allusions, or quotations from other texts within a narrative. Examples include 'The Waste Land' by T.S. Eliot or 'Ulysses' by James Joyce.
Fabulation
Fabulation is a form of metafiction that rejects realism and embraces the wonders of imagination, often including fantastic, mythical, or surreal events. Examples: 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace and 'If on a winter's night a traveler' by Italo Calvino.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation involves breaking up the narrative into discontinuous segments or perspectives. This can be seen in 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milan Kundera and 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell.
Temporal Distortion
This technique involves the use of non-linear timelines or narrative techniques that defy chronological order. Example works include 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller and 'Hopscotch' by Julio Cortázar.
Metafiction
Metafiction is a technique of writing that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion. Examples include 'At Swim-Two-Birds' by Flann O'Brien and 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut.
Unreliable Narrator
An unreliable narrator cannot be trusted to convey the truth of the story due to bias, lying, insanity, or lack of knowledge. Examples are found in 'Fight Club' by Chuck Palahniuk and 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov.
Pastiche
Pastiche is a narrative technique that imitates the style or character of different authors or genres. Unlike parody, it celebrates rather than mocks the work it imitates. Examples include 'The Crying of Lot 49' by Thomas Pynchon and 'The Name of the Rose' by Umberto Eco.
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