The world inverted : Chuck Palahniuk's fiction as a challenge to neoliberal capitalism : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
Loading...
Date
2020
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey University
Rights
The Author
Abstract
In 2019, neoliberal capitalism and its practices appear to be so well-established in Anglo-American countries as to be almost incontestable. Much academic discourse has focused on delineating the features of neoliberal capitalism and diagnosing the effect it has on its human subjects, with many theorists arguing that it produces subjects who are individualistic, competitive and isolated. This thesis aims to determine what role, if any, fiction can play in the wider project of challenging neoliberal capitalist subjectivities. More specifically, it asks: To what extent can the work of one contemporary writer, American author Chuck Palahniuk, challenge his reader’s understanding of their own society and even prompt a transformational impulse within them? This thesis analyses nine of Palahniuk’s novels through the lenses of Marxist theory and contemporary theories of neoliberal capitalism in order to consider how fiction can alter a reader’s understanding of their society. Looking beyond representational content alone, I argue that Palahniuk’s use of stylistic features such as hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism and satire work to unveil and exaggerate aspects of neoliberal capitalism to the reader that have become so normalised that they are often viewed as inevitable or ‘common sense.’ At the same time, inbuilt moments of existential crisis and ambiguous endings work to break through the reader’s routine assumptions as to what is inevitable or important and create moments of uncertainty and doubt about neoliberal capitalism. The thesis thus argues that any transformational impulse ignited in the reader by Palahniuk’s fiction is best understood as a result of the dialectic work of content and form in tandem.
Description
Keywords
Palahniuk, Chuck, Criticism and interpretation, Neoliberalism and literature, Capitalism and literature