Keywords
metafiction
postmodern text
open text
discourse theory
reader-response
linguistic indeterminacy
American fiction
narrative fragmentation
epistemological skepticism
How to Cite
Abstract
This article examines the representation and structural features of postmodern text in American fiction, particularly in the metafictional narratives of the 1960s and 1970s. The study explores the philosophical and structural convergence between postmodern literary practice and poststructuralist theoretical discourse. It argues that postmodern narrative does not merely reflect theoretical ideas but actively embodies them through formal experimentation, narrative fragmentation, linguistic play, and epistemological skepticism. The works of John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Donald Barthelme, Robert Coover, Richard Brautigan, William Gass, and Kurt Vonnegut are analyzed as key examples of American metafiction. The article demonstrates that postmodern fiction challenges mimetic representation, destabilizes narrative authority, and transforms the reader into an active participant in the production of meaning. These literary strategies are examined within the theoretical frameworks developed by Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, Linda Hutcheon, and Jean-François Lyotard.References
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