Category
Three-Minute Thesis
Description
My research synthesizes major theories of Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes to explore Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 and Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. These novels consider meaning, reading, translation, and intertextuality from a postmodern perspective, and the theorists posit complementary concepts on these subjects. Using their theories as guideposts, my analysis emerges as an investigation of postmodern tenets in practice. Understanding the way theory functions in these novels invites scholars to access clandestine textual meanings sheltered beneath the surface of playful narrative. In contemporary scholarship, postmodern theorists, such as Barthes and Derrida, certainly maintain a consistent presence; however, the direct application of their theories has dwindled in recent years. With scholarship trending away from grand theory toward theories with more specific scopes and applications, postmodern concepts have largely fallen out of favor. However, since Derrida and Barthes both consider meaning derived not from the author but from the text, their theories remain inexhaustible. With each new reader, new meanings surface. My analysis emphasizes this reality through the examination of Calvino’s and Pynchon’s quintessential postmodern texts. Both Barthes and Derrida derive pleasure from reading and playing with language, and these themes of enjoyment emerge in the novels as well. Ultimately, my research demonstrates that scholars must never take themselves too seriously, pushing the limits of theory as a means of discovery.
The Intersection of Text and Theory: Drawing Lines Between Derrida, Barthes, Pynchon, and Calvino
Three-Minute Thesis
My research synthesizes major theories of Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes to explore Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 and Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. These novels consider meaning, reading, translation, and intertextuality from a postmodern perspective, and the theorists posit complementary concepts on these subjects. Using their theories as guideposts, my analysis emerges as an investigation of postmodern tenets in practice. Understanding the way theory functions in these novels invites scholars to access clandestine textual meanings sheltered beneath the surface of playful narrative. In contemporary scholarship, postmodern theorists, such as Barthes and Derrida, certainly maintain a consistent presence; however, the direct application of their theories has dwindled in recent years. With scholarship trending away from grand theory toward theories with more specific scopes and applications, postmodern concepts have largely fallen out of favor. However, since Derrida and Barthes both consider meaning derived not from the author but from the text, their theories remain inexhaustible. With each new reader, new meanings surface. My analysis emphasizes this reality through the examination of Calvino’s and Pynchon’s quintessential postmodern texts. Both Barthes and Derrida derive pleasure from reading and playing with language, and these themes of enjoyment emerge in the novels as well. Ultimately, my research demonstrates that scholars must never take themselves too seriously, pushing the limits of theory as a means of discovery.
