Thomas Mann predicted that no manner or mode in literature would be
so typical or so pervasive in the twentieth century as the
grotesque. Assuredly he was correct. The subjects and methods of
our comic literature (and much of our other literature) are
regularly disturbing and often repulsive -- no laughing matter. In
this ambitious study, John R. Clark seeks to elucidate the major
tactics and topics deployed in modern literary dark humor. In Part
I he explores the satiric strategies of authors of the grotesque,
strategies that undercut conventional usage and form: the
de-basement of heroes, the denigration of language and style, the
disruption of normative narrative technique, and even the debunking
of authors themselves. Part II surveys major recurrent themes of
grotesquerie: tedium, scatology, cannibalism, dystopia, and
Armageddon or the end of the world. Clearly the literature of the
grotesque is obtrusive and ugly, its effect morbid and disquieting
-- and deliberately meant to be so. Grotesque literature may be
unpleasant, but it is patently insightful. Indeed, as Clark shows,
all of the strategies and topics employed by this literature stem
from age-old and spirited traditions. Critics have complained about
this grim satiric literature, asserting that it is dank, cheerless,
unsavory, and negative. But such an interpretation is far too
simplistic. On the contrary, as Clark demonstrates, such grotesque
writing, in its power and its prevalence in the past and present,
is in fact conventional, controlled, imaginative, and vigorous --
no mean achievements for any body of art.
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