Absurd realism in postmodern American fiction: Wallace, Pynchon, and Tomasula

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dc.contributor.authorBabalola, Titilola
dc.contributor.supervisorBenzon, Kiki
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-20T18:56:22Z
dc.date.available2014-10-20T18:56:22Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis, I examine absurd realism as a literary subgenre in postmodern American fiction. I define the concept of absurd realism, focusing on the features that characterize it as a postmodern subgenre. I also look at its relationship with other subgenres of literature such as realism, absurdism, magical realism, and satire. Through the analyses of three postmodern novels: David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King, Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, and Steve Tomasula’s TOC: A New Media Novel, I illustrate how the features of absurd realism portray a postmodern world pervaded by boredom and chaos. I also consider how these texts convey the absurdity of human existence through the use of everyday characters, events, and setting. In summary, this thesis focuses on how the absurd occurrences and bizarre characters that exist within these books portray, in both literal and metaphoric senses, the complexity of the postmodern world.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/3545
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.proquest.subject401en_US
dc.proquest.subject298en_US
dc.proquest.subject593en_US
dc.proquestyesYesen_US
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of English, c2013en_US
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Englishen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)en_US
dc.subjectAbsurd realismen_US
dc.subjectPostmodern American fictionen_US
dc.subjectDavid Foster Wallace's The pale kingen_US
dc.subjectThomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49en_US
dc.subjectSteve Tomasula's TOC: A New Media Novelen_US
dc.subject.lcshPostmodernism (Literature)
dc.subject.lcshAbsurd (Philosophy) in literature
dc.subject.lcshWallace, David Foster--Criticism and interpretation
dc.subject.lcshPynchon, Thomas--Criticism and interpretation
dc.subject.lcshTomasula, Steve--Criticism and interpretation
dc.subject.lcshDissertations, Academic
dc.titleAbsurd realism in postmodern American fiction: Wallace, Pynchon, and Tomasulaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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