Abstract:
This thesis is a collection of short fiction preceded by a critical essay. The critical essay, a work in three sections, examines the writer's role in reflecting human subjectivity and ontological dilemmas. The essay illustrates the responses of self-reflexive Postmodem writers like Julio Cortazar and Ronald Sukenick to the idea of absolutes. It posits that while many self-reflexive Postmodernists sought to convey the chaos implicit in living in the world by employing willfully artificial narrative "structures" aimed at rendering an experiential sense of chaos in the reader, theirs are not the only methods in relating or examining human subjectivity in a chaotic world. The essay concludes by offering an example of literature which addresses Postmodern concerns while making use of more traditional, familiar narrative tools that are not entirely self-referential. Following the critical essay are five short works of fiction which are illustrative of the manner by which the subjectivity of human response in a chaotic world may be rendered through traditional narrative structures while still addressing Postmodem concerns.
