Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Blank Fiction.

This week, was pretty hard to find anything that defines Blank fiction, but in the end I went to Google books and looked at a book called Blank Fiction: Consumerism, Culture And The Contemporary American Novel by James Annesley. (Here).

It defines Blank Fiction as a novel that focuses on the experiences of the American youth, with an urban setting, and with themes of the relationship between the individual and the consumer culture. These novels do not have long overly complex plots, but rather go for a "loose" approach. It says in the book " They prefer blank, atonal perspectives and fragile, glassy visions."

A feature that defines Blank Fiction is that the characters and even the writers/readers of the texts are "slackers, whose indifference is reflected in the atomised, nihilistic worldview articulated in these texts." The book ties in these views of the world and the generation with the post-modern culture that was appearing throughout the 80s. Blank Fiction can be seen as a product of the post-modern culture, with the twists and turns in the novels representing the material structures of the 20th century.

Many of the novels mentioned in the book such as Less Than Zero, American Psycho, Bright Lights Big City and more each deal with themes of of the excess. Dealing with the glamorous life of cocaine, Wall Street, exotic eateries and major label suits. These narratives go hand in hand with the social, cultural and political dynamics of the 80s.

Overall Blank Fiction seems to be a direct commentary on the times that they were written, in this case the 80s. It deals with the how we, as a person, react to the consumer culture that surrounds us everyday.


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