Making the Most of What We’ve Got: Understanding the Paradox of Postmodern Fictional Satire in the Works of Kurt Vonnegut and George Saunders
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2019
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University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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A fundamental paradox exists in the realm of satire in the postmodern because postmodernism challenges all traditional structures of moral values and literary expression, while satire often holds its subjects to the critical scrutiny of overarching moral and social standards. Postmodern satirists Kurt Vonnegut and George Saunders both author fictional satire with absurdist elements, though their satire is possible in the postmodern realm because of the way in which it gently instills values of hope and empathy. Vonnegut precedes Saunders by a generation in which a world war and civil rights movements were rampant and active. The fiction of his career ultimately begins the postmodern satirist movement because his work maneuvers surreptitiously under the cloak of radical science fiction and dark humor. Defying the bleak appearance of his writing style, Vonnegut promotes a hope and restored faith in humanity. Saunders represents the twenty-first century postmodern satirist who uses empathetic development in his fiction in order to elevate the healing and ameliorative properties of his fictional satire. By provoking empathy for his dynamic characters, Saunders evokes human understanding and elicits compassion in readers with his moral trajectory. Both authors prove that despite breaking literary boundaries and challenging inherently accepted moral norms, they are still able to reinvigorate the individual moral sentiments of readers without imposing harsh, corrective dogmas.
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65 pages
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