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The Paradox of the Narrative Event in John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse"

Abdalhadi Nimer Abdalqader Abu Jweid and Arbaayah Ali Termizi

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 23, Issue 4, December 2015

Keywords: Exhaustion, Intertextuality, Metafiction, Narrative Event, Postmodernism, Replenishment

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This article explores, via a postmodern approach, how Barth dealt with the intricate relationship between postmodern fiction and its modern counterpart by constructing a subjective narrative event in his novella, "Lost in the Funhouse". It examines the transparent and correspondent representation of the narrative event as a category of Barthian critique of modern literary exhaustion, and how Barth appropriates remedial recycling for fictional conventions. This apocalyptic homogeneous narrative device involves a constant reciprocal examination of contemporary fiction and its possible future. It is carried out through mutual subversion and, ultimately, challenges the notion of inherited literary forms and their utilisation over time. As such, the whole narrative event is achieved via a self-reflexive trajectory and multifarious textual solipsism.

ISSN 1511-3701

e-ISSN 2231-8542

Article ID

JSSH-1193-2014

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