Labyrinths in Postmodernism: Danielewski, Pynchon, and Wallace

• Thesis title in Czech: Postmoderní Labyrinty: Danielewski, Pynchon a Wallace
• Thesis title in English: Labyrinths in Postmodernism: Danielewski, Pynchon, and Wallace
• Key words: labyrint|bludiště|postmodernismus|postmoderní romány|David Foster Wallace|Thomas Pynchon|Mark Z. Danielewski
• English key words: labyrinths|mazes|postmodernism|postmodern novels|David Foster Wallace|Thomas Pynchon|Mark Z. Danielewski
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2018/2019
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: doc. Erik Sherman Roraback, D.Phil.
• Author: Mgr. Teja Šosterič, BA - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 04.02.2019
• Date of assignment: 04.02.2019
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 13.02.2019
• Date and time of defence: 22.01.2020 09:00
• Date of electronic submission: 27.12.2019
• Date of proceeded defence: 22.01.2020
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: David Lee Robbins, Ph.D.

Guidelines

Guidelines:
My thesis concerns labyrinths in postmodernism. Labyrinths are an ancient idea, and there is an abundance of sources dealing with textual labyrinths in other periods. However, certain aspects of the labyrinthine form are especially well suited to postmodernism, such as the focus on exteriority, fragmentation, and multiple points of view. The purpose of my thesis will be to demonstrate this, which I will do through the analysis of three postmodern novels: Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Danielewski’s House of Leaves, and Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.
Firstly, I will discuss labyrinths generally and labyrinths in literature, to establish the context for comparison between physical and textual labyrinths. This will include a brief history of the labyrinthine form, from ancient mythology onwards. I will also explore how labyrinthine texts have been written about in the past, using secondary literature by Penelope Reed Doob and Wendy Faris, which will allow me to compare historical labyrinthine texts with more recent ones.
Secondly, I will establish the main criteria according to which novels can be labyrinthine, which I will separate into four main groups: mentions of labyrinth and labyrinth as the topic (labyrinth as theme); structure of a labyrinth, including word placement and fonts, as well as footnotes, endnotes, and other media (labyrinthine structure); complexity of narrative including a multitude of characters and layering (labyrinthine narrative); and finally texts that feature an either complicated, diverse, ornate, or shifting language, using multiple registers and/or slang (labyrinthine language). Additionally, for a book to be considered labyrinthine, it cannot be a sequence of unrelated intricate parts: the complexity must be interconnected, forming a whole, or at least attempting to do so. In labyrinthine books, form and meaning follow each other; the meaning of the text is conveyed through the labyrinthine form. The reader travels through the book as a labyrinth, understanding the plot through the process of moving along the labyrinthine narrative paths.
I will show that all three of the analysed novels are textual labyrinths, though perhaps not all in the same way. Because they are all extensive and recent works of fiction, they will allow for a methodical and structured comparison. Other significant titles to be included are Labyrinths, a collection of Jorge Luis Borges’s short stories and essays, which deals with the topic too extensively to ignore; Pynchon’s The Crying Of Lot 49, whose postmodernist labyrinthine structure which has already been addressed in a recently published essay; and several other novels that feature or are in some way connected to labyrinths. The thesis will also mention “Choose your own adventure” books, which may not have great literary significance, but are labyrinthine in a very interactive way.
My focus will also be on the future development of the postmodern novel, and I will explore non-linear (multicursal) textual labyrinths as a potential future alternative to the traditional novel form. I will therefore not only analyse the existing patterns, but also theorise on the reasons for their emergence and possible impact on future developments. In this way, I will firstly explore how an idea as ancient and ubiquitous as the labyrinth retains its significance, and secondly explore what its role might be in the future, something that is inevitably related to technology and technological development.

References

References:
Chandler, Marilyn R. Dwelling in the Text: Houses in American Fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Danielewski, Mark Z. House of Leaves. New York: Pantheon, 2000.
Eco, Umberto. From the Tree to the Labyrinth. Translated by Anthony Oldcorn. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014.
Faris, Wendy B. Labyrinths of Language: Symbolic Landscape and Narrative Design in Modern Fiction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1988.
Gleason, William. “The Postmodern Labyrinths of Lot 49.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 34.2 Winter 1993: 83-99.
Higgins, Charlotte. Red Thread: On Mazes and Labyrinths. New York: Random House, 2018.
Matthews, W. H. Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of Their History and Developments. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1922.
Pynchon, Thomas. Gravity’s Rainbow. London: Vintage Books, 2000.
Pynchon, Thomas. The The Crying Of Lot 49. London: Vintage Books, 1996.
Reed Doob, Penelope. The Idea of the Labyrinth from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages. Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press: 1990.
Roraback, Erik S.. The Philosophical Baroque: On Autopoietic Modernities. Brill: Leiden, 2017.
Seed, David. The Fictional Labyrinths of Thomas Pynchon. London: The Macmillan Press, 1988.
Wallace, David Foster. Infinite Jest. London: Little, Brown Book Group, 2008.