Annotated Bibliography for Project II

Annotated Bibliography

Johnstone, John. "Postmodern Theory/ Postmodern Fiction." Clio 16.2 (Winter 1987): 139-158. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Jennifer Baise. Vol. 90. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 20th Century Literature Criticism Online. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

This article is from a scholarly journal, and it is about specific works of postmodern fictions. It was especially helpful, because it directly made reference to if on a winter’s night a traveller, the book that I am reviewing. It listed different recurring images and themes in postmodern fiction, such as multiple levels of coding, metafiction, and “language as a field of endless re-articulations.” And beyond that, it explained that the dramatization of “the Reader” in the book I am interested in is an example of flaunting and manipulating conventions. It was helpful to see how postmodern thought was employed in Calvino’s work, and again, the phrasing is important for me to note so that I may somehow replicate it.

Lehman, David. "The Questions of Postmodernism." Jacket Magazine July 1998: 1-20. Web.

This work appears in a magazine, and it is written by a well-known poet and editor. It was more casually written than the scholarly journals I had been reading, and it included more personal opinion. I thought that the opinion was valuable, because it gave me a glimpse into how other people, albeit literary-literate people, read postmodern works. He used great descriptive words such as eclectic, inconsistent, and aesthetic. Moreover, he provided great quotations, written by himself and other authors. Kiekegaard wrote that the significance of reading can be found when “you enjoy something entirely accidental,” which is reminiscent of the way postmodern writers think about reading. Also, Lehman writes that postmodern works move from point to point, character to character, style to style, “with the speed of a distracted newspaper reader in the subway.” I love this line.

Mitchell, David. “Enter the maze.” The Guardian. 22 May 2004. Web.

This is an article written about the second time that Mitchell read Calvino’s novel. It was interesting, because he explained how captivated he was by it when he first completed it as an undergrad, but the second read through was must less enthralling. Mitchell concludes that it can only be, “breathtakingly inventive once.” I found it helpful to reflect on whether or not I thought that this would be true. Additionally, I liked some of his analyses, and they eloquently described some of the thoughts that I had while reading. Most notably, he says that these “passages require an archaeologist’s brush,” and he made reference to a sentence that I had written down in my writer’s notebook.

"Postmodernism, An Introduction to." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Jennifer Baise. Vol. 90. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 20th Century Literature Criticism Online. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

This article is from a scholarly journal, and it again provides general, necessary information about postmodernism. It spent some time contextualizing postmodernism, and I think that understanding its appearance and development will be important in my own work. I’ll need to situate the reader historically before I jump into the details of the school of thought. This piece also listed several writing elements specific to postmodernism, such as discontinuous time, recurring characters, irony, and authorial intrusions. I’m trying to piece together a clear picture of what postmodern writing entails, and this article added to that.

Rushdie, Salman. “Calvino.” London Review of Books 3.17 (1981): 16-17. Web.

This review looked at Calvino’s progression as an author, so it included discussion about all of his works. I focused on the novel that I’m interested in, but I also paid close attention to his descriptions of the author. He states that Calvino “has already said about himself just about everything there is to be said,” a fact that I thought made writing about him difficult. Additionally, the chronological progression of his review of all Calvino’s books gave me a little more insight about his motives and his development. I think that this background is helpful in establishing what kind of project Calvino set out to accomplish and what kinds of literary tactics he wanted to use to get there.

Tinkler, Alan. "Italo Calvino." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 183. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

This article was a biography of Italo Calvino that described his career and main concerns as a writer. There was a specific section for each book, so I focused on the one that I am writing about. Tinkler explained Calvino’s interests and goals going into writing this book, and it was helpful to have some context for the author. As opposed to listing the writing elements of postmodernism in general, this article listed writing elements specific to this book that are characteristic of the style; it was a mini-analysis. He also characterizes the novel as a “narrative experiment,” which I thought was a great descriptive phrase.

Wood, Michael. “A Romance of the Reader.” Rev. of If on a winter’s night a traveler, by Italo Calvino. New York Times. 21 June 1981. Web.

This is a short review of the novel, written when it was first published. This is the only article I read that contained first reactions to the book, and I thought that it was useful to understand how it was first received. The comment that stood out to me the most was about how If on a winter’s night… was “vividly written.” I didn’t completely agree with this, and I wanted to clarify the comment in my own review/analysis. While I think that it is partially true, I don’t think this simple statement contains the complete truth about the writing as a whole.