The political potential of postmodernist narrative strategies - the case of D.M. Thomas's Ararat

Abstract

By means of a reading of D.M. Thomas's Ararat, this paper takes issue with the common assumption that postmodernist writing is divorced from social and political concerns. It is argued that the reflexive narrative strategies which characterize this text and form the basis of its introverted aspect, are not simply examples of formalist game-playing but are actually deployed to engage with political history. The paper is divided into two parts, the first of these deals with the reflexive purposes of the metafictional devices used in Ararat, and the second discusses the enlistment of these strategies in the text's critique of political history.

Opsomming
By wyse van 'n verklaring van D.M. Thomas se Ararat, verwerp hierdie artikel die beskou­ing dat postmodernistiese skrywe geskei is van sosiale en politieke aangeleenthede. Daar word aangevoer dat die selfbesinnende narratiewe strategiee wat hierdie teks karakteri­seer en die basis van sy selfbespieelende aard vorm, nie slegs as voorbeeld van formalis­tiese spel bestempel kan word nie, maar dat hulle deel uitmaak van sy sosiale en politieke kritiek. Die artikel is in twee verdeel: die eerste deel handel oor die refleksiewe doel van die metafiktiewe tegnieke wat in Ararat gebruik word, terwyl die tweede deel hul gebruik in die teks se politieke kritiek verken.