Experimental Fiction

[Heather H]

People have always tinkered with literary conventions, but since the Modernist period (c. late 1800s to World War II) it seems like the tinkering has become more extreme (and perhaps more interesting). I haven't so far explored recent developments in experimental forms, but I have signed up for an advanced English class this fall on experimental contemporary fiction, so I am about to get plenty of exposure to it.

Here is a link to the syllabus.

http://www.lanceolsen.com/5800F11.pdf

I have so far bought some of the books, and they look bizarre (which, for me, means that they look interesting). In particular, the way a work appears on the page appears to be a popular subject for experimentation. Text is printed in unusual ways (i.e. diagonally on the page, in multiple fonts, or on a mostly blank page just containing a word or two). There are often drawings to accompany the text, and some take this combination of words and visual art further; one of the required texts for the class is a multimedia CDROM. Also, as would be expected, many of these authors ignore the accepted conventions of sentence structure. I think this will be an interesting class.

Does anyone else here seek out the odd and unusual? I'm curious to read about the experiences of others here.

As the class progresses, I'll post short reviews in this thread.

Heather

[margaine]

Thanks for posting the syllabus.

I'm unfamiliar with much of what's on there - with the exception of Beckett, Robbe-Grillet, and House of Leaves. Star_Anise and I have both read House of Leaves, so there should be some discussion of it somewhere on here if you do a search, although I can't remember where at the moment. It's a very fascinating book. And I'm super-curious to know what it's like to read in a class. There is just so much in there. I bet it will be a great and challenging experience to discuss it in class.

I do like the strange and bizarre in literature, if it's done well. I don't usually seek it out because I don't know much about where to start. I'm also curious about things like Patchwork Girl, which is a hypertext novel that unfolds as you follow the links. I started looking at it, but I wasn't quite ready to devote the necessary energy to it at the time. Are the online works on your syllabus hypertext?

Oh yeah, and I've read a couple things by Coetzee, but what I read did not seem particularly strange or experimental. Just a little dark and self-referential. I wonder if his more recent things are more strange . . . aha, just read the wikepedia about Summertime - I see why it's included now - a fictionalized autobiography told from the point of view of other people.

[Star_Anise]

I wouldn't say I seek out the experimental or unusual, I would say I usually don't pay it much attention, to be honest. I haven't found the experience of reading less traditional texts to be very rewarding, although my experience of them has been limited. I would consider Georges Perec's Life: A User's Manual to fall into this category, and I really struggled to read that one, let alone get anything from the experience.

As margaine mentioned, I also read House of Leavs, on a friend's recommendation (and because he gifted a copy to me). I found the format difficult to engage with, not to mention all the different threads confusing, but I did enjoy the central story (even though it was a disturbing experience for me).

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the class and do let us know how you find the texts:)

[Heather H]

I have been meaning to get on this forum and post about the fascinating and bizarre literature I have been reading. Here is the first installment.

One word of warning - experimental fiction can be quite disturbing, and certain works are loaded with profanity and disturbing sexual imagery. Some of these works are probably not suitable for even the most experienced children in the most liberal of families, or even for many adults. I'll try to note which ones are particularly nasty so that those with weak stomachs can stay away. However, those works may be extremely rewarding for those who can tolerate the imagery. Many of the others are quite safe, if rather strange and disturbing in a more cerebral sense.

Samuel Beckett - The Unnamable: This is a short novel about nothing, and it is quite fascinating. Some basic knowledge of the traditions of western philosophy certainly helps in interpreting this work. An interesting way to read this is to think of the philosophy of Descartes, and in particular his famous statement "cogito ergo sum" or "I think, therefore I am". Beckett's novel destabilizes everything, including the pronoun "I". His first-person narrator brings up all kinds of ideas only to keep negating them, and the narrator's identity itself seems extremely tenuous despite his constant probing and questioning. By negating everything, Beckett manages to create a nothingness that is quite rich and full of possibilities for questioning our basic assumptions regarding identity. If we can't be certain about "I", then how can we be certain that "I think, therefore I am"? Good close reading skills are essential in approaching this book.

Alain Robbe-Grillet - Jealousy: This is a novel about a jealous husband who watches his wife and her friend. The subject matter isn't unusual, but the way it is told is rather odd. Essentially, it is told from the standpoint of a first person narrator who never says "I" and never directly expresses feelings. All the reader gets is incredibly detailed description of the view seen by the narrator as he moves about the house. Descriptions are repeated many times, and with details changing, as if the narrator is recalling memories. This is not an easy read, but it is quite engrossing. Robbe-Grillet's narrative style inspired a short story that I recently wrote; I used a first person narrator without "I", but I constructed the narrator according to somewhat different rules.

Kathy Acker - Blood and Guts in High School: WARNING - this book contains disturbing imagery and would probably not be the best choice of reading material for children or for those who cannot handle visceral, in-your-face, disgusting sexuality. It is, however, an excellent book full of rich social commentary. This book basically tells about alienation in the style of the 1970s New York punk rock culture, so you can imagine what the language is like. The main "character", Janey Smith, is a sort of everywoman who has nothing going for her and is constantly beat down by society. In the center of the novel is a retelling and analysis of The Scarlet Letter in a punk style. Also, the page is destabilized in places, and there are crude and explicit drawings throughout the book. If you like to wallow in postmodern alienation, this is the perfect book. Even if you don't like to wallow in alienation, but are curious and want to read something that will be good for you, even if it is painful, then this is a good choice. This is not an easy or pleasant read, but it is worth the effort for the insight that can be gained from it. Thankfully, I don't really internalize disturbing imagery that I read, so I was able to approach this work as a disinterested observer and was able to explore what was going on without getting completely drawn into it. Some of the people in the class had an extremely difficult time with it, and I know of a few who couldn't get past the first few pages.

Mark Danielewski - House of Leaves: Note that some parts of this book may not be suitable for minors. There is so much going on in this book that a short description can't begin to do it justice. It is a massive tome that features multiple layers of narrative, and if the reader tries to follow logic in unwrapping the layers, the story at the core of all these layers can't possibly exist. The layout of the page and the fonts used throughout the work are important. Different fonts represent different narrators, and there are frequent interruptions. There are many footnotes, many of which reference works that don't exist. Sometimes, the footnotes take over the entire page and go on for many pages thereafter. The text gets rearranged in bizarre ways, and in certain parts of the book, the reader has to rotate the book to various angles to read the text. The core narrative is a story of a house that is bigger on the inside than on the outside and of the strange dark hallways that open up and seem to go on forever. That narrative is disturbing enough, and the layers added to it by the various "narrators" just add to the complexity and the sense of dislocation. To read this book, it helps a lot to have a grasp of certain aspects of literary theory, but I think the book is at least somewhat intelligible to those who do not have that arcane knowledge. I looked at it through the lens of Plato and the ancient Greek idea of mimesis, which Danielewski demolishes in a fascinating way. I also tried to untangle webs of signification, in which the theories of Saussure and Barthes were helpful, but I came to agree with Lacan that it was not possible to gain direct access to the signifieds; the various signifiers in the book just went around in circles. What does house signify anyway? Derrida is another useful theorist here, but I don't have a lot of knowledge of his work, so I probably missed a few things as a result. Next semester, I hope to take a theory class in which I will study Derrida, and then maybe House of Leaves will make more sense. I'll look around on the forum and see if I can find where this book might have been discussed before.

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries - http://www.yhchang.com/ - Note that some of this material may not be suitable for minors, but most of it is fine. Parents may wish to preview it before showing it to their children. These short, minimalist pieces are produced using Flash video. Words quickly flash on the screen, accompanied by music, and the reader cannot control the pace. There is a lot of social commentary here, and it is presented in a novel and interesting way. In the class, we discussed "Bust Down the Doors" and "Traveling to Utopia". Both present commentary on some of the not-so-good aspects of modern life. "The Sea" is a longer piece with good imagery and good music.

This is all for now, but I'll post more soon. We are in the middle of David Foster Wallace right now, and I'm sure a lot can be said about his work.

Heather

[Star_Anise]

Thanks for the update Heather - I really appreciate the insight into these. Not sure I will have the courage to attack any, but I am glad you're enjoying them:-)

[cafolini]

People have always tinkered with literary conventions, but since the Modernist period (c. late 1800s to World War II) it seems like the tinkering has become more extreme (and perhaps more interesting). I haven't so far explored recent developments in experimental forms, but I have signed up for an advanced English class this fall on experimental contemporary fiction, so I am about to get plenty of exposure to it.

Here is a link to the syllabus.

http://www.lanceolsen.com/5800F11.pdf

I have so far bought some of the books, and they look bizarre (which, for me, means that they look interesting). In particular, the way a work appears on the page appears to be a popular subject for experimentation. Text is printed in unusual ways (i.e. diagonally on the page, in multiple fonts, or on a mostly blank page just containing a word or two). There are often drawings to accompany the text, and some take this combination of words and visual art further; one of the required texts for the class is a multimedia CDROM. Also, as would be expected, many of these authors ignore the accepted conventions of sentence structure. I think this will be an interesting class.

Does anyone else here seek out the odd and unusual? I'm curious to read about the experiences of others here.

As the class progresses, I'll post short reviews in this thread.

Heather

Being a symbolist, I find the idea of experimenting with sentence structure interesting. Not much of that has been done that became popular. Can we write meaningfully with that? It has been done very well. Good post.