Washington, D.C., begins with a riff
monitor, and reading a spoken
that merges his own face with
human language comes after expo-
memories and reflected faces:
sure to binary codes.
Computer-based literature has
My black face fades,
taken shape since the early 1990s;
hiding inside the black granite.
with the advent of the World Wide
I said I wouldn’t,
Web, some experimental poetry
dammit: No tears.
has shifted its focus to a paperless,
I’m stone. I’m flesh.
virtual, global realm.
My clouded reflection eyes me
Recurring motifs in cyber-poetry
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
include self-reflexive critiques of
slanted against morning. I turn
technologically driven work; com-
this way — the stone lets me go.
puter icons, graphics, and hypertext
I turn that way — I’m inside
links festoon vast webs of relation-
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
ships, while dimensional layers —
again, depending on the light
animation, sonics, hyperlinked
to make a difference.
texts — proliferate in multiple
I go down the 58,022 names,
directions, sometimes created by
half-expecting to find
multiple and unknown authors.
my own in letters like smoke.
Outlets for this work come and
YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
go; they have included the CD-ROM
I see the booby trap’s white flash.
poetry magazines The Little
Names shimmer on a woman’s
Magazine, Cyberpoetry, Java Poetry,
blouse
New River, Parallel, and many oth-
but when she walks away
ers. Writing From the New Coast:
the names stay on the wall.
Technique (1993), an influential
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s
gathering of poetic statements
wings cutting across my stare.
accompanied by a collection of
The sky. A plane in the sky.
poems edited by Juliana Spahr and
A white vet’s image floats
Peter Gizzi, helped catalyze experi-
closer to me, then his pale eyes
mental poetry in the electronic age.
Photo: Jamer Keyser / Time
look through mine. I’m a window.
Life Pictures / Getty Images
It celebrates irreducible multiplici-
134
ty and the primacy of historical context, attacking self have arrived at similar viewpoints, coming
the very notions of identity and universality as
from opposite directions. Ultimate or contin-
repressive bourgeois constructs.
gent, poems exist at the intersection of word and
Jorie Graham and other experimental poets of
world.
■
135
pologist Jared Diamond, popular sociology by The New Yorker magazine writer Malcolm Gladwell, CHAPTER and accounts of drug rehabilitation and crime. In the last category was a reprint of Truman Capote’s groundbreaking In Cold Blood, a 1965 “nonfiction novel” that blurs the distinction between high lit-C 10
erature and journalism and had recently been
made into a film.
ONTEMPORARY
Books by non-American authors and books on
AMERICAN
international themes were also prominent on the
LITERATURE
list. Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini’s searing
novel, The Kite Runner, tells of childhood friends in Kabul separated by the rule of the Taliban,
he United States is one of the most
while Azar Nafisi’s memoir, Reading Lolita in
diverse nations in the world. Its dynamic
Teheran, poignantly recalls teaching great works Tpopulation of about 300 million boasts more of western literature to young women in Iran. A than 30 million foreign-born individuals who
third novel, Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha speak numerous languages and dialects. Some
(made into a movie), recounts a Japanese
one million new immigrants arrive each year,
woman’s life during World War II.
many from Asia and Latin America.
In addition, the best-seller list reveals the
Literature in the United States today is like-
popularity of religious themes. According to
wise dazzlingly diverse, exciting, and evolving.
Publishers Weekly, 2001 was the first year that New voices have arisen from many quarters,
Christian-themed books topped the sales lists in
challenging old ideas and adapting literary tradi-
both fiction and nonfiction. Among the hardcover
tions to suit changing conditions of the national
best-sellers of that exemplary Sunday in 2006, we
life. Social and economic advances have enabled
find Dan Brown’s novel The DaVinci Code and previously underrepresented groups to express
Anne Rice’s tale Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.
themselves more fully, while technological inno-
Beyond the Times’ best-seller list, chain book-vations have created a fast-moving public forum.
stores offer separate sections for major reli-
Reading clubs proliferate, and book fairs, literary gions including Christianity, Islam, Judaism,
festivals, and “poetry slams” (events where
Buddhism, and sometimes Hinduism.
youthful poets compete in performing their
In the Women’s Literature section of book-
poetry) attract enthusiastic audiences. Selection
stores one finds works by a “Third Wave” of fem-
of a new work for a book club can launch an
inists, a movement that usually refers to young
unknown writer into the limelight overnight.
women in their 20s and 30s who have grown up in
On a typical Sunday the list of best-selling books an era of widely accepted social equality in the
in the New York Times Book Review testifies to the United States. Third Wave feminists feel suffi-extraordinary diversity of the current American lit-ciently empowered to emphasize the individuali-
erary scene. In January, 2006, for example, the list ty of choices women make. Often associated in
of paperback best-sellers included “genre” fic-
the popular mind with a return to tradition and
tion — steamy romances by Nora Roberts, a new
child-rearing, lipstick, and “feminine” styles,
thriller by John Grisham, murder mysteries —
these young women have reclaimed the word
alongside nonfiction science books by the anthro-
“girl” — some decline to call themselves femi-
136
nist. What is often called “chick lit”
story genre has gained luster, and
is a flourishing offshoot. Bridget
the “short” short story has taken
Jones’s Diary by the British writer
root. A new generation of play-
Helen Fielding and Candace
wrights continues the American tra-
Bushnell’s Sex and the City featur-
dition of exploring current social
P
ing urban single women with
issues on stage. There is not space
romance in mind have spawned a
ostmodern
here in this brief survey to do jus-
popular genre among young authors
tice to the glittering diversity of
women.
American literature today. Instead,
question external
Nonfiction writers also examine
one must consider general develop-
structures,
the phenomenon of post-feminism.
ments and representative figures.
The Mommy Myth (2004) by Susan whether political, Douglas and Meredith Michaels
POSTMODERNISM,
philosophical, or
analyzes the role of the media in
CULTURE AND IDENTITY
artistic. They
the “mommy wars,” while Jennifer
ostmodernism suggests frag-
Baumgardner and Amy Richards’ tend to distrust
mentation: collage, hybridity,
P
lively ManifestA: Young Women,
and the use of various voices,
the master-
Feminism, and the Future (2000)
scenes, and identities. Postmodern
narratives of
discusses women’s activism in
authors question external struc-
modernist
the age of the Internet. Caitlin
tures, whether political, philo-
Flanagan, a magazine writer who thought, which
sophical, or artistic. They tend to
calls herself an “anti-feminist,”
distrust the master-narratives of
they see
explores conflicts between domes-
modernist thought, which they
as politically
tic life and professional life for
see as politically suspect.
women. Her 2004 essay in The suspect.
Instead, they mine popular cul-
Atlantic, “How Serfdom Saved the
ture genres, especially science
Women’s Movement,” an account
fiction, spy, and detective stories,
of how professional women
becoming, in effect, archaeolo-
depend on immigrant women of a
gists of pop culture.
lower class for their childcare, trig-
Don DeLillo’s White Noise,
gered an enormous debate.
structured in 40 sections like
It is clear that American litera-
video clips, highlights the dilem-
ture at the turn of the 21st century
mas of representation: “Were
has become democratic and het-
people this dumb before televi-
erogeneous. Regionalism has flow-
sion?” one character wonders.
ered, and international, or “global,”
David Foster Wallace’s gargantuan
writers refract U.S. culture through
(1,000 pages, 900 footnotes)
foreign perspectives. Multiethnic
Infinite Jest mixes up wheelchair-
writing continues to mine rich
bound terrorists, drug addicts,
veins, and as each ethnic literature
and futuristic descriptions of a
matures, it creates its own tradi-
country like the United States. In
tions. Creative nonfiction and
Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers inter-
memoir have flourished. The short
weaves sophisticated technology
137
with private lives.
childhood of poverty, family alcoholism, and
Influenced by Thomas Pynchon, postmodern
intolerance in Ireland with a surprising warmth
authors fabricate complex plots that demand
and humor. Paul Auster’s Hand to Mouth (1997) imaginative leaps. Often they flatten historical
tells of poverty that blocked his writing and poi-
depth into one dimension; William Vollmann’s
soned his soul.
novels slide between vastly different times
and places as easily as a computer mouse
The Short Story: New Directions
moves between texts.
The story genre had to a degree lost its lus-
ter by the late l970s. Experimental metafiction
Creative Nonfiction: Memoir and
stories had been penned by Donald Barthelme,
Autobiography
Robert Coover, John Barth, and William Gass
any writers hunger for open, less
and were no longer on the cutting edge. Large-
canonical genres as vehicles for their
circulation weekly magazines that had show-
Mpostmodern visions. The rise of global, cased short fiction, such as the Saturday multiethnic, and women’s literature — works
Evening Post, had collapsed.
in which writers reflect on experiences shaped
It took an outsider from the Pacific
by culture, color, and gender — has endowed
Northwest — a gritty realist in the tradition of
autobiography and memoir with special allure.
Ernest Hemingway — to revitalize the genre.
While the boundaries of the terms are debated,
Raymond Carver (l938-l988) had studied under
a memoir is typically shorter or more limited in
the late novelist John Gardner, absorbing
scope, while an autobiography makes some
Gardner’s passion for accessible artistry fused
attempt at a comprehensive overview of the
with moral vision. Carver rose above alcoholism
writer’s life.
and harsh poverty to become the most influen-
Postmodern fragmentation has rendered
tial story writer in the United States. In his col-problematic for many writers the idea of a fin-
lections Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
ished self that can be articulated successfully
(l976), What We Talk About When We Talk About
in one sweep. Many turn to the memoir in their
Love (l981), Cathedral (l983), and Where I’m struggles to ground an authentic self. What
Calling From (l988), Carver follows confused constitutes authenticity, and to what extent the
working people through dead-end jobs, alco-
writer is allowed to embroider upon his or her
holic binges, and rented rooms with an under-
memories of experience in works of nonfiction,
stated, minimalist style of writing that carries
are hotly contested subjects of writers’ tremendous impact.
conferences.
Linked with Carver is novelist and story
Writers themselves have contributed pene-
writer Ann Beattie (1947- ), whose middle-class
trating observations on such questions in
characters often lead aimless lives. Her stories
books about writing, such as The Writing Life
reference political events and popular songs,
(1989) by Annie Dillard. Noteworthy memoirs
and offer distilled glimpses of life decade by
include The Stolen Light (1989) by Ved Mehta.
decade in the changing United States. Recent
Born in India, Mehta was blinded at the age of
collections are Park City (l998) and Perfect three. His account of flying alone as a young
Recall (2001).
blind person to study in the United States is
Inspired by Carver and Beattie, writers craft-
unforgettable. Irish American Frank McCourt’s
ed impressive neorealist story collections in the
mesmerizing Angela’s Ashes (1996) recalls his mid-l980s, including Amy Hempel’s Reasons to
138
Live (1985), David Leavitt’s Family
prose poem.
Dancing (l984), Richard Ford’s
Supporters claim that short
Rock Springs (l987), Bobbie Ann
shorts’ “reduced geographies”
Mason’s Shiloh and Other Stories
mirror postmodern conditions in
(1982), and Lorrie Moore’s Self-
which borders seem closer togeth-
Help (l985). Other noteworthy fig-
er. They find elegant simplicity in
ures include the late Andre Dubus,
these brief fictions. Detractors see
author of Dancing After Hours
short shorts as a symptom of cul-
(l996), and the prolific John
tural decay, a general loss of read-
Updike, whose recent story collec-
ing ability, and a limited attention
tions include The Afterlife and
span. In any event, short shorts
Other Stories (l994).
have found a certain niche: They
Today, as is discussed later in
are easy to forward in an e-mail,
this chapter, writers with ethnic
and they lend themselves to elec-
and global roots are informing the
tronic distribution. They make man-
story genre with non-Western and
ageable in-class readings and mod-
tribal approaches, and storytelling
els for writing assignments.
has commanded critical and popu-
lar attention. The versatile, primal
Drama
tale is the basis of several
Contemporary drama mingles
hybridized forms: novels that are
realism with fantasy in postmodern
constructed of interlinking short
works that fuse the personal and
stories or vignettes, and creative
the political. The exuberant Tony
nonfictions that interweave history
Kushner (l956- ) has won acclaim
and personal history with fiction.
for his prize-winning Angels in
America plays, which vividly render
The Short Short Story:
the AIDS epidemic and the psychic
Sudden or Flash Fiction
cost of closeted homosexuality in
The short short is a very brief
the 1980s and 1990s. Part One:
story, often only one or two pages
Millennium Approaches (1991) and
long. It is sometimes called “flash
its companion piece, Part Two:
RAYMOND CARVER
fiction” or “sudden fiction” after
Perestroika (1992), together last
the l986 anthology Sudden Fiction,
seven hours. Combining comedy,
edited by Robert Shapard and
melodrama, political commentary,
James Thomas.
and special effects, they inter-
In short short stories, there is
weave various plots and marginal-
little space to develop a character.
ized characters.
Rather, the element of plot is cen-
Women dramatists have attained
tral: A crisis occurs, and a
particular success in recent years.
sketched-in character simply has to
Prominent among them is Beth
react. Authors deploy clever narra-
Henley (1952- ), from Mississippi,
tive or linguistic patterns; in some
known for her portraits of southern
Photo © Marion Ettlinger /
cases, the short short resembles a
CORBIS OUTLINE
women. Henley gained national
139
recognition for her Crimes of the Heart (l978), have arisen in many cities, and electronic tech-which was made into a film in l986, a warm play
nology has de-centered literary life.
about three eccentric sisters whose affection
As economic shifts and social change redefine
helps them survive disappointment and despair.
America, a yearning for tradition has set in. The
Later plays, including The Miss Firecracker
most sustaining and distinctively American myths
Contest (1980), The Wake of Jamey Foster (l982), partake of the land, and writers are turning to the The Debutante Ball (l985), and The Lucky Spot Civil War South, the Wild West of the rancher, the (l986), explore southern forms of socializing —
rooted life of the midwestern farmer, the south-
beauty contests, funerals, coming-out parties,
western tribal homeland, and other localized
and dance halls.
realms where the real and the mythic mingle. Of
Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), from New
course, more than one region has inspired many
York, wrote early comedies including When
writers; they are included here in regions forma-
Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth (l975), a parody of tive to their vision or characteristic of their
beauty contests. She is best known for The Heidi mature work.
Chronicles (l988), about a successful woman professor who confesses to deep unhappiness
The Northeast
and adopts a baby. Wasserstein continued
The scenic Northeast, region of lengthy win-
exploring women’s aspirations in The Sisters
ters, dense deciduous forests, and low rugged
Rosensweig (l991), An American Daughter mountain chains, was the first English-speaking
(1997), and Old Money (2000).
colonial area, and it retains the feel of England.
Younger dramatists such as African American
Boston, Massachusetts, is the cultural power-
Suzan-Lori Parks (1964- ) build on the successes
house, boasting research institutions and scores
of earlier women. Parks, who grew up on various
of universities. Many New England writers depict
army bases in the United States and Germany,
characters that continue the Puritan legacy,
deals with political issues in experimental works
embodying the middle-class Protestant work
whose timelessness and ritualism recall Irish-
ethic and progressive commitment to social
born writer Samuel Beckett. Her best-known
reform. In the rural areas, small, independent
work, The America Play (1991), revolves around farmers struggle to survive in the world of global the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
marketing.
by John Wilkes Booth. She returns to this theme
Novelist Joyce Carol Oates sets many of her
in Topdog/Underdog (2001), which tells the story gothic works in upstate New York. Richard Russo
of two African-American brothers named Lincoln
(1949- ), in his appealing Empire Falls (2001), and Booth and their lifetime of sibling rivalry.
evokes life in a dying mill town in Maine, the state where Stephen King (1947- ) locates his popular
REGIONALISM
horror novels.
pervasive regionalist sensibility has gained
The bittersweet fictions of Massachusetts-
strength in American literature in the past
based Sue Miller (1943- ), such as The Good
Atwo decades. Decentralization expresses Mother (1986), examine counterculture the postmodern U.S. condition, a trend most evi-lifestyles in Cambridge, a city known for cultural dent in fiction writing; no longer does any one
and social diversity, intellectual vitality, and tech-viewpoint or code successfully express the
nological innovation. Another writer from
nation. No one city defines artistic movements,
Massachusetts, Anita Diamant (1951- ), earned
as New York City once did. Vital arts communities
popular acclaim with The Red Tent (1997), a fem-140
inist historical novel based on the biblical story less people. Rick Moody (1961- ) is best known
of Dinah.
for his novel The Ice Storm (1994). The novels of Russell Banks (1940- ), from poor, rural New
Jeffrey Eugenides (1960- ) include Middle