Lit. Exhaust,etc.

[LARSSON at vax1.mankato.msus.edu]

Bonnie accurately summarizes:
" . . . writers had exhausted their stock supply of epic                   
convetions, manifestations of plot, etc.  So, the only thing left to
write about was writing itself.  This is highly condensed, keep in mind.
Actually, when Barth wrote about th LOE, he was speaking of postmodern
fiction, so right off, your editor is perhaps confused.  OR, h/she may
just feel that Barth and Pynchon, in this orientation, as writers of this
"genre," are trifling, not "serious," etc.  Pynchon, if anyone, is HIGHLY
serious in his writing about writing--especially in terms of historical
narratives, as we've been discussing.  Barth's play has similarly
critical posture.  Hearing Barth speak a while ago, I recall this one
thing he said that has always stuck with me.  He says that "a good
postmodern writer has the first half of the 20th Century under his belt,
not on his back" --just an aside, but also relevant to the LOE issue."


Barth in his original article especially singles out for mention Nabokov and
Borges.  Part of his point, as I recall it, was that exhaustion gave writers
a certain freedom, allowing them to have *fun* with their material (something
Barth himself indulges in with glee).  Years later, though (c. 1980), he
wrote another essay titled "The Literature of Replenishment," suggesting
that Postmodernism had regained its footing and was now shooting for something
more substantial--I don't remember whether he actually cited TRP in that
case.

I used to have both articles (originally from ATLANTIC MONTHLY) at hand, but
the elves have made off with them.

Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)