Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants

Hassan Abootalebi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants

Hassan Abootalebi

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 3, Issue 5)

Received: 27 April 2015 Accepted: 17 May 2015 Published: 7 September 2015

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Abstract

The modes of narration in postmodernist fiction are not identical with those of modernists and realists. They contravene readers’ expectations, making them most often astounded and baffled. This study sets out to discuss some of the techniques used by the American writer Robert Coover in his story collection; Pricksongs & Descants (1969) which are associated with postmodernist fiction. These strategies including metafictional techniques, fragmentation, ontological concern, and temporal distortion, will in the subsequent sections of this paper be explicated and elucidated. In this regard, the term postmodernism will be first defined and elaborated, and then some of the salient features of Coover’s selected work stated above, will be examined in order to demonstrate the title-mentioned claim. Not all the stories of the collection will in this study be provided an analysis of, but those which are of greater significance and are noticeable in incorporating postmodern strategies. Coover, it is argued, in the above-mentioned work, depicts events and situations most of which at odds with what readers are used to being provided with. Readers in Coover’s are thus no longer passive recipients of the created world of the author, but active during the narratives and are invited to make things out and come to a conclusion about the plausible outcome of events.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
Page(s)	75-79
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Metafictional Techniques, Fragmentation, Ontological Concern, Temporal Distortion, Coover, Postmodernism

References

[1]	Abrams, M. H. (2005). A Glossary of Literary Terms.9TH ed. Canada: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
[2]	Coover, Robert. (1969). Pricksongs & Descants. New York: n.p.
[3]	Evenson, Brian. (2003). Understanding Robert Coover. Us of America: U of south Carolina P.
[4]	Galens, David. (2002). Literary Movements for Students. Vol. 3. US: Gale Cengage Learning.
[5]	Hutcheon, Linda. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. New York: Routledge.
[6]	Jameson, Fredric.(2014). “postmodernism and consumer society”. Art.ucsc.edu. web. 15Apr.
[7]	McHale, Brian.(1987). Postmodernist Fiction. London: Routledge.
[8]	Nicol, Brian. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodern Fiction. New York: Cambridge UP.
[9]	Sim, Stuart. (2001). The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. London: Routledge.
[10]	Vonnegut, Kurt. (1973). Breakfast of Champions. New York: Random House.
[11]	Waugh, Patricia. (1984). Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-conscious Fiction. London: Routledge.

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APA Style

Hassan Abootalebi. (2015). Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 3(5), 75-79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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Hassan Abootalebi. Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2015, 3(5), 75-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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AMA Style

Hassan Abootalebi. Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. Int J Lit Arts. 2015;3(5):75-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12,
  author = {Hassan Abootalebi},
  title = {Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {75-79},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20150305.12},
  abstract = {The modes of narration in postmodernist fiction are not identical with those of modernists and realists. They contravene readers’ expectations, making them most often astounded and baffled. This study sets out to discuss some of the techniques used by the American writer Robert Coover in his story collection; Pricksongs & Descants (1969) which are associated with postmodernist fiction. These strategies including metafictional techniques, fragmentation, ontological concern, and temporal distortion, will in the subsequent sections of this paper be explicated and elucidated. In this regard, the term postmodernism will be first defined and elaborated, and then some of the salient features of Coover’s selected work stated above, will be examined in order to demonstrate the title-mentioned claim. Not all the stories of the collection will in this study be provided an analysis of, but those which are of greater significance and are noticeable in incorporating postmodern strategies. Coover, it is argued, in the above-mentioned work, depicts events and situations most of which at odds with what readers are used to being provided with. Readers in Coover’s are thus no longer passive recipients of the created world of the author, but active during the narratives and are invited to make things out and come to a conclusion about the plausible outcome of events.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants
AU  - Hassan Abootalebi
Y1  - 2015/09/07
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 75
EP  - 79
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
AB  - The modes of narration in postmodernist fiction are not identical with those of modernists and realists. They contravene readers’ expectations, making them most often astounded and baffled. This study sets out to discuss some of the techniques used by the American writer Robert Coover in his story collection; Pricksongs & Descants (1969) which are associated with postmodernist fiction. These strategies including metafictional techniques, fragmentation, ontological concern, and temporal distortion, will in the subsequent sections of this paper be explicated and elucidated. In this regard, the term postmodernism will be first defined and elaborated, and then some of the salient features of Coover’s selected work stated above, will be examined in order to demonstrate the title-mentioned claim. Not all the stories of the collection will in this study be provided an analysis of, but those which are of greater significance and are noticeable in incorporating postmodern strategies. Coover, it is argued, in the above-mentioned work, depicts events and situations most of which at odds with what readers are used to being provided with. Readers in Coover’s are thus no longer passive recipients of the created world of the author, but active during the narratives and are invited to make things out and come to a conclusion about the plausible outcome of events.
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Hassan Abootalebi

MA in English Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Department of English Language and Literature, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Hassan Abootalebi. (2015). Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 3(5), 75-79. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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ACS Style

Hassan Abootalebi. Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2015, 3(5), 75-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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AMA Style

Hassan Abootalebi. Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants. Int J Lit Arts. 2015;3(5):75-79. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12,
  author = {Hassan Abootalebi},
  title = {Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {75-79},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20150305.12},
  abstract = {The modes of narration in postmodernist fiction are not identical with those of modernists and realists. They contravene readers’ expectations, making them most often astounded and baffled. This study sets out to discuss some of the techniques used by the American writer Robert Coover in his story collection; Pricksongs & Descants (1969) which are associated with postmodernist fiction. These strategies including metafictional techniques, fragmentation, ontological concern, and temporal distortion, will in the subsequent sections of this paper be explicated and elucidated. In this regard, the term postmodernism will be first defined and elaborated, and then some of the salient features of Coover’s selected work stated above, will be examined in order to demonstrate the title-mentioned claim. Not all the stories of the collection will in this study be provided an analysis of, but those which are of greater significance and are noticeable in incorporating postmodern strategies. Coover, it is argued, in the above-mentioned work, depicts events and situations most of which at odds with what readers are used to being provided with. Readers in Coover’s are thus no longer passive recipients of the created world of the author, but active during the narratives and are invited to make things out and come to a conclusion about the plausible outcome of events.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Postmodern Narrative Techniques in Robert Coover’s Story Collection; Pricksongs & Descants
AU  - Hassan Abootalebi
Y1  - 2015/09/07
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 75
EP  - 79
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20150305.12
AB  - The modes of narration in postmodernist fiction are not identical with those of modernists and realists. They contravene readers’ expectations, making them most often astounded and baffled. This study sets out to discuss some of the techniques used by the American writer Robert Coover in his story collection; Pricksongs & Descants (1969) which are associated with postmodernist fiction. These strategies including metafictional techniques, fragmentation, ontological concern, and temporal distortion, will in the subsequent sections of this paper be explicated and elucidated. In this regard, the term postmodernism will be first defined and elaborated, and then some of the salient features of Coover’s selected work stated above, will be examined in order to demonstrate the title-mentioned claim. Not all the stories of the collection will in this study be provided an analysis of, but those which are of greater significance and are noticeable in incorporating postmodern strategies. Coover, it is argued, in the above-mentioned work, depicts events and situations most of which at odds with what readers are used to being provided with. Readers in Coover’s are thus no longer passive recipients of the created world of the author, but active during the narratives and are invited to make things out and come to a conclusion about the plausible outcome of events.
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
ER  -

Copy | Download