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GenReVisions

Genre Experimentation and World-Construction in Contemporary Anglophone Literature

Allen, Martina

Anglistische Forschungen, Bd. 468

2020

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Abstract

Despite decades in the naughty corner of literary studies, genre has arguably become an increasingly central category to the production and interpretation of contemporary literature. ‘GenReVisions’ examines the scope of genre usage in Anglophone literature today and its effects on the construction of literary and extra-literary ‘worlds’. Combining insights from pragmatics, cognitive poetics and constructivist philosophy, the first part of the study promotes a revision of received genre conceptions in favour of a new conceptual metaphor that foregrounds the discursive dimension of generic practices. The second part explores diverse forms of genre experimentation in three recent paradigmatic works: David Mitchell’s ‘Cloud Atlas’, Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’, and Steven Hall’s ‘The Raw Shark Texts’. These texts all evoke familiar genres to provide different perspectives on or create new visions of reality. Together, they provide a panorama of contemporary genre usage.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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Cover Cover
Titel 3
Imprint 4
Contents 5
Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9
1 Conceptualising Genre 17
1.1 What Genre? Questions of Definition and Scope 17
1.1.1 Genres and Modes 22
1.1.2 Genres as Biological Species 26
1.1.3 The Concept of Family Resemblance 32
1.1.4 Genres as Social Institutions and Typified Actions 37
1.2 Towards a Pragmatic Conception of Genre 44
1.2.1 Cognitive Schemata 44
1.2.2 Construction Kits 46
1.2.3 Fictional Worlds and Worldmaking 48
1.2.4 Hybridity and Its Discontents 53
1.2.5 Generic Blending 61
1.2.6 Forms of Genre Usage 65
2 Uses of Genre in Contemporary Literature 75
2.1 What Goes Around Comes Around – David Mitchell’s ‚Cloud Atlas‘ 75
2.1.1 Jigsaw Worlds: Composites and (In)Coherence 75
2.1.2 Mix’n’Match? Mitchell’s Complicated Cosmologies 88
2.1.3 Dark Reflections: The Dystopian Scenarios of ‚Cloud Atlas‘ 104
2.1.4 Conclusion: Dystopias 139
2.2 Orpheus Rocks – Salman Rushdie’s ‚The Ground Beneath Her Feet‘ 141
2.2.1 Dionysus Reborn: A Novel Tragic 144
2.2.2 Tragic Patterns? Rock’n’Roll, Popular Culture and Globalisation 158
2.2.3 Antagonistic Worlds: Tragedy and the Semantics of Crisis 200
2.2.4 Conclusion: Disorientations 220
2.3 Mind Matters – Steven Hall’s ‚The Raw Shark Texts‘ 222
2.3.1 The Rorschach Principle – Association, Dissociation and World-Construction 225
2.3.2 Entering the Gutenberg Galaxy – a Cyberpunk Projection 240
2.3.3 The Strange ‘Case’ of Eric Sanderson 262
2.3.4 Conclusion: Dissociations 284
Conclusion 287
Bibliography 291
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