Some one was telling me the other night about his post modern detective story. This presented me with an opportunity to ask something I have long wanted to know - what does post modern mean in the world of literature. His answer , as far as my limited intellect allowed me to understand, is that it is narrative where the author deliberately jerks the reader out of the story to demonstrate that the story only exists in the matrix of another story.
I have just been reading Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and am wondering if this is an example of a post modern story.
I hope someone will tell me if I have understood what I think I was being told.
If I did understand with some degree of accuracy,however,it still doesn't explain why this type of writing should be called post modern - such a paradox title.
I take it the post bit means after as in post natal and post mortem. But how then can something be post modern?
Modern seems to me to be welded to a step on the escalator of our time dimension labelled 'the present' It cannot move past 'the present' to the next step 'the future' except perhaps as an idea in SF? So what does the title mean? Can someone help me?
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