The Postmodern: Theory and Fiction

What is “the postmodern”? Is it a specific style? A historical era? Might the postmodern even be, as the title of this seminar suggests, nothing more than a theory or a fiction? Our aim in this class will be to explore the range of fictions and theories that have fallen under the rubric of “the postmodern,” as a means of understanding the debates that continue to surround that term. We will trace the contours of the postmodern through various texts, both classics of the emerging canon of postmodern fiction and theory and also more recent works that suggest different permutations of what we mean by “the postmodern.” Our discussions of these texts will explore, among other questions, postmodernism’s relationship to modernism, narrative, identity, race, gender, technology, the media, and economics.

Readings:
Readings will include works by authors such as Thomas Pynchon, Donald Barthelme, Kurt Vonnegut, Ishmael Reed, Joanna Russ, Kathy Acker, Don DeLillo, David Foster Wallace, Jennifer Egan, Art Spiegelman, Ihab Hassan, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Donna Haraway, Jean Baudrillard, John Barth, Steven Shaviro, Charles Newman, David Harvey, and Fredric Jameson.

Requirements:
Our class will operate as a seminar, with vigorous discussion required. Each student will be responsible for two in-class presentations that will serve as the starting point for class discussions. Each student will also contribute at least once per week to an online discussion list. Formal writing assignments will include two essays of five to seven pages each, and a final research paper of twelve to fifteen pages

Class has a limited enrollment of 15.