dc.contributor.author | Leal, Carissa M. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-11-02T11:34:13Z | |
dc.date.created | 2017-11 | |
dc.date.issued | 2017-08-10 | |
dc.date.submitted | 2017 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37736743 | * |
dc.description.abstract | Responding directly to David Foster Wallace's call for a "new sincerity," Jennifer Egan in A Visit from the Goon Squad, finds a way to avoid the detrimental postmodern irony identified by Wallace and replace it with sincerity and authenticity in post-postmodern literature. This study looks at the connection between David Foster Wallace’s influential 20th century essay “E Unibus Pluram”, its co-published “Interview with Larry McCaffery” and its greater connection to Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. In her novel, Egan uses Wallace’s observations on late postmodern irony and television’s influence on fiction to craft a world that overcomes the ironic quagmire left by its predecessor. She connects herself with Wallace by creating the character of Jules Jones, a magazine writer who parodies his writing style and is searching for authenticity. At the end of the novel, she creates a linguistic dystopia which is able to cast off Wallace’s “E Unibus” notions of screen time and uses smartphone like devices to create a touchstone moment for a generation. These two scenes, Jules’ quest for authenticity and Scotty’s concert, are set many years apart to show the progression out of ironic looping into a post-postmodern authenticity. By understanding the mistakes in postmodernism, Egan can avoid incorporating them into post-postmodern literature and thus move fiction further past irony. | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dash.license | LAA | |
dc.subject | Literature, American | |
dc.subject | Literature, Modern | |
dc.subject | Literature, General | |
dc.title | The Progression of Postmodern Irony: Jennifer Egan, David Foster Wallace and the Rise of Post-Postmodern Authenticity | |
dc.type | Thesis or Dissertation | |
dash.depositing.author | Leal, Carissa M. | |
dc.date.available | 2018-11-02T11:34:13Z | |
thesis.degree.date | 2017 | |
thesis.degree.grantor | Harvard Extension School | |
thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
thesis.degree.name | ALM | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Theoharis, Theo | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Delaney, Talaya | |
dc.type.material | text | |
thesis.degree.department | Literature and Creative Writing | |
dash.identifier.vireo | http://etds.lib.harvard.edu/dce/admin/view/457 | |
dc.description.keywords | Egan; Wallace; A Visit from the Goon Squad; E Unibus Pluram; authencity | |
dash.author.email | carissa.leal@gmail.com | |