Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
POSTMODERN THEMES AND TROPES IN CARVER'S SHORT STORIES - Coggle Diagram
POSTMODERN THEMES AND TROPES IN CARVER'S SHORT STORIES
Raymond Carver
born in Oregon 1938
masculine American pursuits
married in teens
fathered two children
was an alcoholic
stories
first published collection in 1976
final collection
Where I'm Calling From in 1988
short stories
no time to write novels
grand narrative
Low-rent tragedy
postmodern fiction
represented in daily life
seen in poorer communities
fewer options avalible to rise above circurmstances
low-rent tragedies
one more thing
economic impotence and spiritual ennui of postmodern American working class
lack money
communities losing meaningful connections
Disillusionment and the Desire for Distraction or Escape
two things are certain
people no longer care what happens to other people
nothing makes any real difference any longer
feelings of disillusioned hopelessness
ways characters's world is changing and left them without sense of purpose
satisfying careers or meaningful lives
perilous emotional situation
characters to pursue distraction
form of sex, drinking or watching mindless TV or even dreams
character are desperate to escape their sitiuations
Disconnection
figuratively speaking
characters' lives are disconnecting, unravelling, coming apart
Carver illustrates this in many ways
sense of disconnection
breaking up of relationships
infidelity in romantic relationships
breakdown of friendships
disconnection in character conversations
evident at societal level
sense of postmodern alienation
systemic disconnection
Alcohol, Violence and Misogyny
Carver's character
seek solace in alcohol
lead to violence in various forms
air of fear and danger permeates many stories
violence is often threatened or repressed
questioning Traditional Identity Structures
postmodern era
people began questioning traditional social constructions
create spaces where alternative norms could emerge
reflected through postmodern literature
Carver focuses
ways a white working class males are represented
representation of women and people of colour
stories create space to explore, deconstruct, and sometimes reconstruct the way power and meaning is viewed
identity
masculine is brought into question
difficulties the society, writers and readers may have
resultant shift
Authorial Self-reference
Carver's style
realist
one technique
characteristically postmodern
reader in his narratives
authorial self-reference
author refers to him/herself
drawing attention
s/he is more than just another character
a special relationship with the reader
reader in the conversation through phatic expressions
treatment of the narrator
far from omniscient individual
authentic
challenges the narrator's reliability
Postmodern treatment of Allegory
Carver
offers no solution
raise it for the reader to judge
allows a little postmodern irony
allegory extents to the entire state