Existentialist engagement in Wallace, Eggers and Foer : a philosophical analysis of contemporary American literature / Allard den Dulk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dulk, Allard den, 1978- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Eggers, Dave--Criticism and interpretation.

Eggers, Dave.

Foer, Jonathan Safran, 1977- Everything is illuminated.

Foer, Jonathan Safran.

Wallace, David Foster--Criticism and interpretation.

Wallace, David Foster.

American fiction--21st century--History and criticism.

American fiction.

Existentialism in literature.

Irony in literature.

Literature--Philosophy.

Literature.

Postmodernism (Literature)--United States.

Postmodernism (Literature).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Academic, An imprint of Bloomsberry Publishing, Inc, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The novels of David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer are increasingly regarded as representing a new trend, an 'aesthetic sea change' in contemporary American fiction. 'Post-postmodernism' and 'New Sincerity' are just two of the labels that have been attached to this trend. But what do these labels mean? What characterizes and connects these novels? Dulk shows that the connection between these works lies in their shared philosophical dimension. On the one hand, they portray excessive self-reflection and endless irony as the two main problems of contemporary Western life. On the other hand, the novels embody an attempt to overcome these problems: sincerity, reality-commitment and community are portrayed as the virtues needed to achieve a meaningful life. This shared philosophical dimension is analyzed by viewing the novels in light of the existentialist philosophies of Soren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Albert Camus."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

"A philosophical analysis of existentialist themes in the fiction of Wallace, Eggers and Foer"--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note:

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction: 1. Aims and Method ; 2. An 'Aesthetic Sea-Change' in American Literature ; 3. Outline of Primary Literary Works ; 4. Heuristic Perspectives ; 5. Outline of the Study

PART I PROBLEMS

Chapter 1 - Hyperreflexivity: Introduction ; 1. Factors of Heightened Contemporary Reflexivity ; 2. Sartre's View of Consciousness and Self-Reflection ; 3. The Alienation of Self-Reflection ; Conclusion

Chapter 2 - Endless Irony: Introduction ; 1. Irony as an Attitude towards Existence ; 2. Irony as Negative Independence ; 3. Endless 'Aesthetic' Irony ; 4. Meta-Irony ; Conclusion.

PROBLEMATIC FICTION. Chapter 3 - Postmodernist Metafiction: John Barth. Introduction ; 1. Metafiction ; 2. Deconstruction and Metafiction ; Conclusion

Chapter 4 - Postmodernist Minimalism: Bret Easton Ellis. Introduction ; 1. General Comparison ; 2. Four Aspects of the Escalation of Ironic-Aesthetic Existence ; 3. A Continuation of Reflexive Irony Conclusion

PART II ENGAGED FICTION. Chapter 5 - Wittgenstein and Wallace: The Meaning of Fiction. Introduction ; 1. Wittgenstein: The Temptation of Essences ; 2. Wittgenstein: The Irrelevance of Essences ; 3. The Virtues of the Late-Wittgensteinian Language View ; 4. A Late-Wittgensteinian View of Fiction ; Conclusion

ENGAGEMENT. Chapter 6 - Sincerity Introduction ; 1. Sincerity vs. Authenticity ; 2. Sincerity: A Sartrean, Existentialist Ideal ; 3. Cases of Sincerity: The Fiction of Wallace, Eggers and Foer ; Conclusion

Chapter 7 - Reality-Commitment. Introduction ; 1. The Realization of Choice: Freedom, Despair, Urgency ; 2. The Reality of the Self as Gift and Task ; 3. Reality as Repetition ; Conclusion

Chapter 8 - Community. Introduction ; 1. Absurdity and Rebellion: Two Main Themes of Camus's Thought ; 2. The Role of the Other: Kierkegaard and Sartre vs. Camus ; 3. Discovering the Other: Wallace, Eggers and Foer ; 4. Towards a Dialogic Community of Meaning ; Conclusion

Concluding Remarks. 1. Literature and Philosophy ; 2. Existentialist Engagement ; 3. Love Me Till My Heart Stops?

Works Cited.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-287) and index.

ISBN:

9781628923339

1628923334

9781501326875

1501326872

9781501322679

1501322672

9781628923346

1628923342

OCLC:

897378712