unlocking the novel
a guide to modernism and postmodernism

Unlocking the postmodern novel: an abbreviated encyclopedia of literary genres

The classification of postmodern books into literary genres seems to be a much debated topic. Apparently, this debate has emerged because  postmodern authors have a flair for writing works that are not easily categorized. Because of this confusion, I thought it would be helpful to have a listing of several popular literary genres to use as a reference when reading postmodern works. Each category includes a brief definition and a list of works that could be included in that category. Specific works that are being considered include John Barth's collection of short stories, Lost in the Funhouse and Toni Morrison's novel, Beloved. Difficulties that arose when trying to classify these books have been noted.

Novel

This is a big one, because many postmodern works would be traditionally classified as a novel. Novels are typically considered to be works of fiction, and are usually long works. Novels are considerably longer works when compared to poetry, short stories, novellas, and essays. In a novel, there is usually a cast of characters, or at least one significant character, who is chronicled throughout the work. Most novels follow a model of Introduction/Rising Action/Climax/Resolution.

Books such as Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and Maxine Hong-Kingston’s Woman Warrior contain at least some of these elements and, arguably, could be classified as novels. However, in all three of these works, the line between fact and fiction is blurred. For example, Beloved is based on the true story of Margaret Garner, a runaway slave who murdered her baby to save her from the horrors of slavery. Though the book is based on a factual occurrence, Morrison uses her imagination to fill in the gaps of the story.  If we were to classify this book based on the assumption that all novels are works of fiction, then Beloved would not fall neatly in the novel category.    

Historical Novel

This type of work incorporates most of the same characteristics as any other novel, but is based, to some extent, on historical fact. Beloved could be classified under this umbrella because the character Sethe is based on the runaway slave, Margaret Garner. After finding a newspaper clipping on Garner’s story, Morrison wanted to discover more about what really happened. However, it appeared as though Margaret Garner never had the opportunity to tell her side of the story.  Morrison decided to give Garner a voice by writing Beloved, using Sethe as a characterization of Garner. Because Toni Morrison used an actual occurrence as the starting point for her story, Beloved would more appropriately be classified in the historical novel genre rather than the broader, more vague category of novel.

Biography

A biography is considered to be the telling of a person’s life based on historical fact. The problem with this definition is objectivity. Because these “facts” are recorded by humans, who by their very nature are biased, it is difficult to present a truly objective account of any event. Two people could tell the very same story from their own differing perspectives, and the message would be quite different. Consider the telling of a story of an escaped slave, one narrator being the slave herself, the other a slave owner. Obviously, the end results of these two stories would be extremely different.

For instance, Beloved is in some ways a biography of Margaret Garner. Morrison, an African American woman, like Margaret Garner, attempts to tell Garner’s story. Morrison’s account of the escape from slavery, her portrayal of Sethe’s physical appearance, and her description of other characters in the book closely parallel the details from Margaret Garner’s own life. Morrison depicts Sethe as extremely emotionally disturbed, ultimately neglecting her own needs and her daughter, Denver’s needs to cater to the ghost of her murdered baby, Beloved. While it is clear that Morrison has taken liberties with her retelling of the story, it is quite possible that her interpretation of Garner’s emotional response is very accurate.

Now consider a “white” male slave-owner retelling the Garner story. While that retelling could also be considered a biography, the perspective would be quite different. Beloved hints at the true horrors of slavery; a mother killed her child to prevent her from enduring the torture. However, had a slave-owner told the story, it’s more likely he would have focused on his monetary losses from the escape, the time he lost from having to locate his missing property, and the precautions he would take to prevent another escape. 

Metafiction

Difficulties have arisen not only when trying to classify postmodern works, but also when defining literary techniques such as metafiction. John Barth defines metafiction as “a novel that imitates a novel rather than the real world.” In other words, a metafictional novel is aware of its existence as a novel. Metafiction does not pretend to be a reflection of reality; rather, it purposefully reflects itself as a literary genre. This idea of “self-reflexivity” creates confusion when one tries to classify a work as metafiction. For instance, if an author uses self-reflexivity one time in the work, does that constitute classification as metafiction? Or should the term only be applied if the work is self-reflexive throughout? Authors who write metafiction often include themselves on the pages of their stories. For example, in his short story “Lost in the Funhouse,” Barth continuously disrupts the reader’s suspension of disbelief by making comments about certain literary techniques he’s using. This constant distraction from the “traditional” narrative upsets the story’s natural flow. For a more in-depth look at what metafiction is, check out this website.

Magic Realism

Magic realism is a literary technique that first became popular in the twentieth century. Authors who incorporate magic realism tend to create primarily realistic settings and characters, and then throw in elements of the supernatural or mystical worlds. Toni Morrison’s book Beloved is a great example of this technique. While her book is set in America during Reconstruction and contains a host of believable characters, the title character is a ghost, the house is haunted, and there is often talk of spirits. The Harmon and Holman Handbook to Literature lists other influential magic realists: Horge Luis Borges, Gabrial Garcia Marquez, Gunter Grass, Jown Fowles, John Barth, and Salman Rushdie.  

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