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D.M. Thomas is one of the most controversial writers of our time -
considered by some a major voice in contemporary fiction, by others
a dubious literary 'impostor' who repeatedly appropriates female
sexuality, the holocaust and the work of other writers for personal
gain. Though best known for his best-selling novel The White Hotel,
he has written twelve other novels and is also an acclaimed poet
and translator of Russian literature. This, the first book-length
study of his work, suggests that what troubles people about Thomas'
work is the way it presents literature as a complex process of
collaboration, translation, and improvisation. Central to this is
Thomas' distinctive practice of uncannily impersonating the voices
of other writers, thus destabilising conventional categories like
authorship, originality and the self. the book considers the
influence of Russian literature on Thomas' work, his interest in
Freud and psychoanalysis, and his commitment to finding suitable
literary form to reflect the ways in which the uniquely violent,
often nightmarish events of our times intersect with the desires
and fantasies within us all.
Postmodernism and the Contemporary Novel: A Reader is the first
book to collect together the most important contributions to the
theory of the postmodern novel over the last forty years and to
guide readers through the complex questions and wide-ranging
debates: what are its characteristics? Which novels and authors
belong to the category? Does it even deserve to be a category on
its own? From which traditions does it emerge? How does it relate
to previous forms of the novel and to other aspects of postmodern
culture? While discussion of the contemporary novel has been
dominated by the question of postmodernism, developments in
contemporary fiction are also central to the wider debate about
postmodernism. Fiction is referred to frequently in the work of
postmodernist thinkers not explicitly concerned with literature,
like Baudrillard, Lyotard, and Haraway. The selections in this book
will also enable readers to place the theory of postmodern fiction
in a broader intellectual and cultural context. * Analyses
postmodern fiction from both thematic and formal perspectives,
giving in-depth coverage to key features and issues such as
metafiction, the relation to modernism, history, and politics *
Features work by some of the most important theorists and critics
of the last few decades, such as Ihab Hassan, Jean Baudrillard,
Linda Hutcheon, and Brian McHale * Provides a sense of historical,
social and cultural context to the debate about postmodernism in
fiction * Gives ample coverage to some of the most compelling
issues raised in relation to postmodern fiction in recent years,
such as science and new technologies, the cyborg, 'race' and gender
By broadening the focus beyond classic English detective fiction,
the American 'hard-boiled' crime novel and the gangster movie,
Crime Culture breathes new life into staple themes of crime fiction
and cinema. Leading international scholars from the fields of
literary and cultural studies analyze a range of literature and
film, from neglected examples of film noir and 'true crime', crime
fiction by female African American writers, to reality TV, recent
films such as Elephant, Collateral and The Departed, and
contemporary fiction by J. G. Ballard, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Margaret
Atwood. They offer groundbreaking interpretations of new elements
such as the mythology of the hitman, technology and the image, and
the cultural impact of 'senseless' murders and reveal why crime is
a powerful way of making sense of the broader concerns shaping
modern culture and society.
By broadening the focus beyond classic English detective fiction,
the American hard-boiled crime novel and the gangster movie, Crime
Cultures breathes new life into staple themes of crime fiction and
cinema. Leading international scholars from the fields of literary
and cultural studies analyze a range of literature and film, from
neglected examples of film noir and true crime , crime fiction by
female African American writers, to reality TV, recent films such
as Elephant, Collateral and The Departed, and contemporary fiction
by J. G. Ballard, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Margaret Atwood. They offer
groundbreaking interpretations of new elements such as the
mythology of the hitman, technology and the image, and the cultural
impact of senseless murders and reveal why crime is a powerful way
of making sense of the broader concerns shaping modern culture and
society.
Postmodern fiction presents a challenge to the reader: instead of
enjoying it passively, the reader has to work to understand its
meanings, to think about what fiction is, and to question their own
responses. Yet this very challenge makes postmodern writing so much
fun to read and rewarding to study. Unlike most introductions to
postmodernism and fiction, this book places the emphasis on
literature rather than theory. It introduces the most prominent
British and American novelists associated with postmodernism, from
the 'pioneers', Beckett, Borges and Burroughs, to important
post-war writers such as Pynchon, Carter, Atwood, Morrison, Gibson,
Auster, DeLillo, and Ellis. Designed for students and clearly
written, this Introduction explains the preoccupations, styles and
techniques that unite postmodern authors. Their work is
characterized by a self-reflexive acknowledgement of its status as
fiction, and by the various ways in which it challenges readers to
question common-sense and commonplace assumptions about literature.
Postmodern fiction presents a challenge to the reader: instead of
enjoying it passively, the reader has to work to understand its
meanings, to think about what fiction is, and to question their own
responses. Yet this very challenge makes postmodern writing so much
fun to read and rewarding to study. Unlike most introductions to
postmodernism and fiction, this book places the emphasis on
literature rather than theory. It introduces the most prominent
British and American novelists associated with postmodernism, from
the "pioneers," Beckett, Borges and Burroughs, to important
post-war writers such as Pynchon, Carter, Atwood, Morrison, Gibson,
Auster, DeLillo, and Ellis. Designed for students and clearly
written, this Introduction explains the preoccupations, styles and
techniques that unite postmodern authors. Their work is
characterized by a self-reflexive acknowledgement of its status as
fiction, and by the various ways in which it challenges readers to
question common-sense and commonplace assumptions about literature.
This book argues that D M Thomas, while best known for his
bestselling novel The White Hotel, is one of our foremost fictional
innovators, continually stretching the boundaries of the novel to
find a suitable form to reflect the the impact of the uniquely
violent, often nightmarish events of our times, on the desires and
fantasies within us all
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