Abstract

Between reality and simulation – dissolving generic boundaries in Jonathan Lethem’s Chronic City (2009)

Highlights

  • In their attempt to reflect an increasing sense of unreality and mediasaturated culture, many contemporary writers show a particular penchant for blurring the boundaries of different generic territories

  • The concept of genre-blending is in no way new, the proliferation of generic crossovers within the post-postmodern1 literary landscape seems to reflect a new shift in the treatment and absorption of popular genres

  • Rather than employing typically postmodern subversive practices and metanarrative games in their appropriation of popular fiction, post-postmodern writers tend to treat them with more appreciation and respectability recognising their potential in expanding new literary possibilities and reflecting the complexities of contemporary existence

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Summary

Introduction

In their attempt to reflect the increasing sense of unreality and mediasaturated culture, many contemporary writers show a particular penchant for blurring the boundaries between different generic territories. Integrating elements of popular culture and fiction, Jonathan Lethem, with his “tendency toward collage and propensity for nontraditional genre-bending, and employment of surreal plots” (Hamilton 2010: 243), clearly falls into a category of experimental writers whose literary output defies fixed generic conventions and boundaries.

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