Editor’s Foreword (Jon Woronoff)
Preface
Reader’s Note
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chronology
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Bibliography
About the Author
Fran Mason is a lecturer at the University of Winchester where he teaches Film Studies and American Literature, within which areas he teaches a range of courses including those relating to postmodernism, crime fiction and film, science-fiction, cyberculture and contemporary writing.
This significantly expanded second edition continues to build a
bold framework for exploring the highly debated, complex, evolving
literary movement of postmodernism. In addition to over 400
cross-referenced and alphabetically arranged entries, the volume
includes an excellent introduction, a chronology of significant
dates and literary works from 1939 to 2015, a handy list of
acronyms, and an extensive, updated 75-page bibliography. The
rewarding and informative 25-page introduction offers an unusually
nuanced survey of the complexities of the field in providing
multiple meanings of the term ‘postmodernism’ related to cultural
production, poststructuralist theories, and aesthetic approaches.
While continuing to focus on individual writers, trends, stylistic
forms, critical ideas, and texts significant to postmodernism,
including important scholars, journals, and cultural influences,
Mason has supplemented the present edition with the names of
writers who have recently emerged, consolidated their reputation,
or become better known or influential. The addition at the end of a
larger number of references and entries related to worldwide
postmodernist literature reflects the increasing availability of
English translations of important works.
*CHOICE*
In the second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Postmodernist
Literature and Theater, Fran Mason presents 553 pages of a
necessarily dense and complex reference work that begins with a
chronology spanning 1939-2015 charting the subject matter as an
international phenomenon heavily based in written and performed
works…. In a mere 25 pages Mason manages to present in a clear and
direct manner what could be impenetrable topics that will be
essential reading for the novice researcher…. Following the
introduction are 450 pages with over 400 entries in alphabetical
order each enriched with cross-references in bold. These entries
cover ‘writers, movements, forms of writing, textual strategies,
critical ideas, and texts that are significant in relation to
postmodernist literature.’ The collection of writers covered has
been expanded from the previous edition to include cutting-edge
writers from an international perspective.... The exhaustively
researched bibliography is 73 pages long and has its own table of
contents consisting of five major sections: General, Postmodernist
Aesthetics, Postmodernist Literature (Fiction, Drama, and Poetry),
Postmodernist Literature (Critical Works), then Journals and
Websites. This dictionary is an indispensable guide for students of
postmodernist literature and would be a worthy addition to any
reference collection.
*American Reference Books Annual*
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