Modernist and Postmodernist Short Stories

1. Modernist and Postmodernist Short Stories

2. I. Modernism and Plot • Modernist literature values the principle, “Make it new.” • Abandon traditional literary forms • Experiment with new techniques • Traditional short stories have followed a linear plot line.

3. A Traditional Plot Diagram

4. I. Modernism and Plot (cont.) C. Modernist plotting abandons the traditional storytelling form 1. Often not chronological 2. Stream of consciousness writing 3. Increased ambiguity How would you draw a plot diagram for the modernist short stories we read?

5. “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Follows a traditional plot, but the main plot is infused with a series of shorter short stories, each with its own conflict and resolution.

6. “Jilting of Granny Weatherhall” Actual plot never develops, but stream of consciousness style depicts Granny’s imagination meandering through time with little organization or chronological order.

7. “Speaking of Courage” Plot mirrors action of story. It is circular, returning to the same point in his life over and over, except with increased emotional distance each time.

8. “Game” Story essentially never progresses beyond the introduction of the conflict; it is unclear and intentionally ambiguous what will happen next, heightening sense of paranoia. Conflict Exposition

9. II. “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” • Underdog Mitty oppressed by unimaginative and waspish wife, escapes to fantasy • Epitomizes a modernist hero through unwillingness to abandon individual desires in face of unrelenting world. • Romanticism of fantasies affirms modernist value of “neo-romanticism” in a modern context.

10. III. “Jilting of Granny Weatherhall” • Stream of Consciousness writing style • Granny’s thoughts meander through life; in the end, she is left only with regret and darkness • Starkly atheist conclusion serves as a criticism of religious dogma, particularly Granny’s Catholicism.

11. IV. Speaking of Courage • Cyclical direction of plot mirrors protagonists’ inability to move forward • Entrenched in symbolism, the sprinkler and lake are most appropriate • Sprinkler: aimlessly circular, changes nothing • Lake: On the outside, lovely, on the inside, dead • Story addresses the inability of Vietnam vets to get over their experience, and America’s unwillingness to help.

12. V. “Game” • Postmodern: Deliberately ambiguous plot forces reader to derive meaning • Criticism of American politics – the insanity of using nuclear weapons and the trivial prompts for doing so • Criticism of pre-modernist/postmodernist literature – it is literally depicted as insane to write the same type of thing over and over

13. VI. The Bomb and Postmodernism • Americans in a state of paranoia and anxiety, perpetuated by government propaganda such as “Duck and Cover.” • Fiction fixates on doomsday scenarios, the brevity of time left, and the decay of human civilization, as seen in “Time Enough at Last” and “Dr. Strangelove.” • Other forms of art depict cold war politics as foolish and childish, as in “Game” and “Dr. Strangelove.”

14. What About Today? • Some Facts About Populations • Some Facts About Technology