Postmodern Pfiction with Ptim Callan

Ptim Callan
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A hardcore fan and sometime author of postmodern fiction dives deep into the world's greatest literary genre. Join me as I explore authors, books, structure, crossover with other media, influences, and more. The P is silent.

  1. -1 j

    Self Awareness

    In this episode I discuss the most basic defining characteristic of postmodernism, which is acute self-awareness. I explain how postmodernism, as a response to modernism, is fundamentally about figuring out how we want to create literature in a world where all accepted prescriptive and proscriptive norms have been eliminated. I take a broad set of a dozen examples to show the many forms in which this self-awareness can manifest. Books discussed include Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, Pure Drivel by Steve Martin, The Universe and Other Fictions by Paul West, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, End Zone by Don DeLillo, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon DeFoe, Perchance to Dream by Robert B. Parker, The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde, The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Archivist by Martha Cooley, and Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon.

  2. 31 août

    Nested Frames

    I follow up my episode "What Is a Frame?" to discuss the concept of nested frames, or frames within frames. I discuss some of the possibilities for this structure and why it may be appealing to metafictionists and other postmodernists. I use examples from Stanislaw Lem, John Barth, David Mitchell, and Julia Donaldson.

  3. 24 août

    Alphabetical Antics: Lipograms, Abecedaries, and More

    I describe how the very alphabet itself is a potential source of content, technique, and constraint for the postmodern writer. We discuss abecedaries, lipograms, and other alphabetical games. Authors include Georges Perec, Ernest Vincent Wright, Stanislaw Lem, Mark Dunn, Christian Bok, and Walter Abish.

  4. 14 août

    Content Versus Technique

    I discuss subject matter and technique as two ways to address a school like postmodernism in literature. I describe the pitfalls of simply associating the postmodern movement with subject matter that is anchored to the postmodern era and how traditionalist writing can feature these same subjects. I discuss why we must deal with content as a topic in our study of postmodernism and how we can productively do so. I compare The Great Escape to Inglourious Basterds to illustrate how technique and subject matter operate differently in our definition of postmodernism.

  5. 6 août

    Six Postmodern Books on My Reading List

    I always have a long reading list, including works both postmodern and otherwise. I go over six books on my reading list, including The One Hundred Brothers by Donald Antrim, Numbers in the Dark by Italo Calvino, Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore, At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien, Huck Out West by Robert Coover, and Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson.

  6. 30 juil.

    What Is Concrete Prose?

    Concrete poetry or concrete prose is poetry or prose in which the arrangement of the printed words on the page adds to the meaning of the work in a meaningful way. I explain the form and give an overview of contributions from writings like e.e. cummings, Richard Kostelanetz, Mark Danielewski, William H. Gass, Ronald Sukenik, Harlan Ellison, Raymond Federman, and more.

  7. 23 juil.

    Going Meta: Career as Postmodern Narrative

    Postmodernists pay great attention to the form of a literary work, be it a short story, a play, a novel, a film, a TV series, a book of short stories, or even a series of novels. But what happens when a postmodern storyteller starts to look at his own career like it's a single, literary work? In this episode I walk through three accomplished postmodernists (John Barth, Robert Coover, Quentin Tarantino) and how each shaped his own career to create a meta-story arc.

  8. 16 juil.

    Five Postmodernists I Don't Like

    I generally am a huge fan of hardcore postmodernism, but these five popular and highly postmodern authors simply don't resonate with me. Join me as I discuss Kathy Acker, William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Chuck Palahnuik, and Umberto Eco.

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A hardcore fan and sometime author of postmodern fiction dives deep into the world's greatest literary genre. Join me as I explore authors, books, structure, crossover with other media, influences, and more. The P is silent.

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