Existentialist Engagement in Wallace, Eggers and Foer: A Philosophical Analysis of Contemporary American Literature

Description

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 literature. ‘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? Den 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 Søren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Albert Camus. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Abbreviations Foreword: ‘Love Me till My Heart Stops’ Introduction Aims and method An ‘aesthetic sea-change’ in American literature Outline of primary literary works Heuristic perspectives Outline of the study Part 1 Problems 1. Hyperreflexivity Introduction Factors of heightened contemporary reflxivity Sartre’s view of consciousness and self-reflection The alienation of self-reflection Conclusion 2. Endless Irony Introduction Irony as an attitude towards existence Irony as negative independence Endless ‘aesthetic’ irony Meta-irony Conclusion Problematic Fiction 3. Postmodernist Metafiction: John Barth Introduction Metafiction Deconstruction and metafiction Conclusion 4. Postmodernist Minimalism: Bret Easton Ellis Introduction General comparison Four aspects of the escalation of ironic-aesthetic existence A continuation of reflexive irony 1 Conclusion Part 2 Engaged Fiction 5 Wittgenstein and Wallace: The Meaning of Fiction Introduction Wittgenstein: The temptation of essences Wittgenstein: The irrelevance of essences The virtues of the late-Wittgensteinian language view A late-Wittgensteinian view of fiction Conclusion Engagement 6. Sincerity Introduction Sincerity versus authenticity Sincerity: A Sartrean, existentialist ideal Case studies of sincerity: The fiction of Wallace, Eggers and Foer Conclusion 7. Reality-Commitment Introduction The realization of choice: Freedom, despair, urgency The reality of the self as gift and task Reality as repetition Conclusion 8. Community Introduction Absurdity and rebellion: Two main themes of Camus’s thought The role of the other: Kierkegaard and Sartre versus Camus Discovering the other: Wallace, Eggers and Foer Towards a dialogic community of meaning Conclusion Concluding Remarks Literature and philosophy Existentialist engagement Love me till my heart stops? Acknowledgements Works Cited Index