Title The real, the true, and the told : postmodern historical narrative and the ethics of representation / Eric L. Berlatsky

Published Columbus : The Ohio State University Press, [2011] ©2011

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 250 pages) : illustrations Series Theory and interpretation of narrative series Theory and interpretation of narrative series. Contents "Memory as forgetting" : historical reference, ethics, and postmodernist fiction -- The pageantry of the past and the reflection of the present : history, reality, and feminism in Virginia Woolf's Between the acts -- "A knife blade called now" : historiography, narrativity, and the "here and now" in Graham Swift's Waterland -- "What's real and what's true" : metaphors, errata, and the shadow of the real in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's children -- "It's enough stories" : truth and experience in Art Spiegelman's Maus -- Expanding the field Summary "The Real, The True, and The Told: Postmodern Historical Narrative and the Ethics of Representation, by Eric L. Berlatsky, intervenes in contemporary debates over the problems of historical reference in a postmodern age. It does so through an examination of postmodern literary practices and their engagement with the theorization of history. The book looks at the major figures of constructivist historiography and at postmodern fiction (and memoir) that explicitly presents and/or theorizes "history." It does so in order to suggest that reading such fiction can intervene substantially in debates over historical reference and the parallel discussion of redefining contemporary ethics." "Much theorization in the wake of Hayden White suggests that history is little better than fiction in its professed goal of representing the "truth" of the past, particularly because of its reliance on the narrative form. While postmodern fiction is often read as reflecting and/or repeating such theories, this book argues that, in fact, such fiction proposes alternative models of accurate historical reference, based on models of nonnarrativity. Through a combination of high theory and narrative theory, the book illustrates how the texts examined insist upon the possibility of accessing the real by rejecting narrative as their primary mode of articulation. Among the authors examined closely in The Real, The True, and The Told are Virginia Woolf, Graham Swift, Salman Rushdie, Art Spiegelman, and Milan Kundera"--Publisher's description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-236) and index Notes Print version record Subject Spiegelman, Art -- Criticism and interpretation Rushdie, Salman -- Criticism and interpretation Swift, Graham, 1949- -- Criticism and interpretation Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 -- Criticism and interpretation SUBJECT Spiegelman, Art -- Criticism and interpretation Rushdie, Salman -- Criticism and interpretation Swift, Graham, 1949- -- Criticism and interpretation Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 -- Criticism and interpretation Rushdie, Salman fast Spiegelman, Art fast Swift, Graham, 1949- fast Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 fast Subject Historiography. History -- Philosophy. Postmodernism (Literature) Discourse analysis, Narrative. Historical fiction -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc historiography. LITERARY CRITICISM -- General. Discourse analysis, Narrative Historiography History -- Philosophy Postmodernism (Literature) Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. Literary criticism Literary criticism. Critiques littéraires. Form Electronic book ISBN 9780814270868 0814270867 0814292542 9780814292549 9780814280188 0814280188

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