The Effect of the Use of Parody in the Slaughterhouse-Five on Vonnegut's War Trauma Writing

Abstract

The parody in Slaughterhouse-Five is notas scholar Fredric Jameson defineda postmodern literary strategy. However, there is currently little research on the non-postmodern character of this postmodern text. This study will start with the technique of parody and challenge Jameson's description of the characteristics of postmodern literature to prove that the novel's war trauma writing contains a non-postmodern value judgment. This essay will refer to the interpretation of scholars such as Neil D Isaacs, and find the moral center which contributes to the frequent use of parody through the analysis of the details of the text. Perhaps the use of parody in this novel can serve as a complement to postmodern literary thought. The above attempt may complement Jameson's definition of postmodern literature, and it can also fill the research gap created by the postmodernity analysis of Slaughterhouse-Five.