Author: Frederik De Vadder, KU Leuven, Belgium
Email: frederik.devadder@kuleuven.be
Published: November 30, 2016
https://doi.org/10.22492/ijl.5.1.06
Citation: De Vadder, F. (2016). The Relation between Words and Worlds in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.22492/ijl.5.1.06
Abstract
This paper offers an analysis of Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. In the first part, Chabon’s novel will be read as an example of what Linda Hutcheon has coined “historiographic metafiction”. In the second part, I will show that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is an excellent illustration of Brian McHale’s definition of postmodern literature and that this postmodern identity plays an important role in expressing the novel’s main theme, escapism.
Keywords
Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, postmodernism, historiographic metafiction, possible worlds, "ontological" layers, (de)mythification, escapism