Infinite Jest is The Postmodern Novel

Half of Daniel Adler's college thesis was that Gravity's Rainbow is the postmodern novel. In 1973, it epitomized a new form and style. Its allusiveness was sporadic and overwhelming and Pynchon's understanding of life and ability to form stories remains admirable.

But when all is said and done, Pynchon was born in 1937. He grew up during WWII and the end of the modernist movement. The War was of a different era.

DFW on the other hand, born in 1962, was raised during the mind-numbing suburban expansion of the 1970s. He saw the "Me generation" rise, flower, and die. And Infinite Jest is a tribute to the future of the world he knew.

With the publishing of The Pale King, DFW's career is over. We can begin to evaluate him with regard to the masters. Fifteen years have passed since the publishing of Infinite Jest, enough time to think about how its grandiose muscles have flexed even harder since his suicide.

The footnotes are what make this book representative of postmodernism. Gravity's Rainbow is dazzling, but easy to misunderstand and get lost in. Infinite Jest is incredibly dense and packed with information. All of the allusions are explained in incredible detail. With the existence of the internet, DFW was able to include all the research and simulate how future earthlings would acquire information.

How long until DFW shows up on college sylllabi?

Postmodernism Began in 1968

Today we’re going to talk about what came before post postmodernism: postmodernism. Postmodernism began around 1968, due to shifting values in the United States and in Europe. A generation had settled down to have children since WWII, and the Baby Boomers were coming of age. Vietnam and the ascension of America as the pre-eminent global power brought to the zeitgeist a self-concerned, slightly ironic viewpoint. The power of corporations became recognized and the idea that power corrupts absolutely was reinforced after Watergate, perhaps the height of the historical movement.

In literature, we can examine postmodernism in the works of Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis, Samuel Beckett, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace, all of whom experiment with notions of assortment and conglomeration in terms of plot, content, and character. In the visual arts, Warhol’s “Marilyn” is the best known example. Postmodern art works on the premise that it can be reproduced with variation to evoke emotion – even when those emotions are base, as in the case of the pervasive ennui,  shock, and irony  we find in many postmodern works.

I’ve written that we’re emerging from the throes of postmodernism today, and that very soon we can expect to see the beginnings of a new movement. Perhaps it will be in 2011, when the seventh billion person is born. Perhaps it will be in 2012, before the putative end of the world. Or perhaps it could take another ten years or more. Although with all that’s changed recently, I doubt it will take that long.