Elements of Elements of Postmodernism in Postmodernism in American Psycho American Psycho Dunja Miki! Petra Jelin"i! Stella Ivan"i! Goti"ki #anr Sveu"ili$te u Zadru 31/5/2017
Postmodern Gothic Novel !
Developed out of postmodern condition
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Influence of the media (TV, newspapers, movies, music)
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Increasing of the realism
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Wider range of context
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Uncertainty of the genre
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Castle
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Villains
city psycho-killers
American Psycho !
By Bret Easton Ellis
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Published in 1991
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Postmodern novel, satire, thriller, black comedy, transgressive fiction
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Graphic violent scenes
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Extreme description of society
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Chapters as newspaper headlines
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Unreliable narrator -first person to third person
Patrick Bateman !
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The stereotype of a successful man in 80’s America “I had all the characteristics of a human being—flesh, blood, skin, hair—but my depersonalization was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to feel compassion had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning” “I am so used to imagining everything happening the way it occurs in the movies, visualizing things falling somehow into the shape of events on screen, that I almost hear the swelling of an orchestra”
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”-I mean don’t you know anything about Sri Lanka? About how the Sikhs are killing like tons of Israelis there?” Timothy goads her. ”Doesn’t that affect us?” ”-Kappamaki roll anyone?” Evelyn cuts in cheerfully, holding up a plate.” ”I’m on the verge of tears by the time we arrive at Pastels since I’m positive we won’t get seated but the table is good, and relief that is almost tidal in scope washes over me in an awesome wave.” ”While the hardbody stands there we check her out, and though her knees do support long, tan legs, I can’t help noticing that one knee is, admittedly, bigger than the other one. The left knee is knobbier, almost imperceptibly thicker than the right knee and this unnoticeable flaw now seems overwhelming and we all lose interest.”
Fantasy or dream
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not being able to distinguish fantasy or dream from reality
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swapping of identities
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ambiguity of events
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parallel happenings the ending intentionally left open
Conclusion
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a perfect example of a post modern horror
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critique of consumerism and materialism
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questions the line between fantasy and reality in the book
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character gets away with it
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“we now live in the gothic world”
