New series today: Postmodernism!
What is postmodernism?
Very basically, postmodernism is the main literary movement we are in right now. Literary movements are kind of like genres, but much, much, broader.
Anyways, the first characteristic of postmodernism we will be looking at is narrators, or, Participation.
In postmodernism, authors sometimes talk directly to the reader. There are two types of this:
1) I don't know the actual term for this, so we are going to call it Storytelling/Storyteller.
If you are reading a book in which the author talks to you, and includes you (making you do things, etc.), s/he is a Storyteller narrator. Adam Gidwitz is a Storyteller in his A Tale Dark and Grimm series. Sometimes, he jumps in to wonder why a certain character said something that didn't make sense, or assuring you that the story will turn out all right in the end, or just messing with you.
SPOILER ALERT(A Tale Dark and Grimm: "'Do I smell human flesh?' he asked.
Hansel caught his breath.
'Of course, silly,' his grandmother said. 'There's a little boy named Hansel, waiting for you in the closet in the living room.'
No, she didn't say that. I was just teasing you" (Gidwitz 139-140).)
SPOILER ENDED.
This type of narrator tends to go into stream of consciousness. As defined by Google, it is: a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow.
Pseudonymous Bosch is an Unconscious Thinker in his Secret Series. At one point in the series, the Pseudonymous Bosch is having a dilemma about whether he should finish his chocolate now, even though he meant to be disciplined and save it for a treat later, or save it. This is more the Unconscious Thinker because his thoughts do not pertain to the actual story.
Have you read any books with these types of narrators? Have you heard about postmodernism? Post in the comments!
Spruce Nogard
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