Friday, February 20, 2009

Struggling With Paratactic Structure in Naked Lunch

As I embarked on my second semester ALIS (American Literature Independent Study) novel, I chose a piece of literature that I knew full well would be the most challenging read of my life, William Burroughs's Naked Lunch. I was searching for a novel that challenged me as a reader, but also as a citizen. I wanted something highly controversial and somewhat unknown. This novel fits both categories, and also challenges every single societal ideal that has been drilled into my brain. This text would never be taught in a high school classroom setting due to its various obscenities, however, I found it to be a launch pad for many varied paths of questioning and realization. This is where my problem resides, in choosing only one (or two) of these realizations to build my critical essay, which begins with composing a thesis statement. I struggled today to make any progress with narrowing down my thoughts and forming anything closely resembling a thesis statement - which is usually no sweat for me during the writing process. If anyone reading this post has read Naked Lunch, I would very much appreciate some perspective of narrowing down a topic. The school of literary criticism that I have chosen is postmodernism, which allows me to focus on every aspect of the novel rather than just one. I am intrigued by Burroughs's intentional paratactic structure (sentences and paragraphs that use punctuation like ellipses rather than connecting words and phrases) and lack of plot. I have read essays that assert this to be his way of stating the manipulative power of language, but I find this idea relatively hard to grasp. This post may not be of any use to those who have not read this 'novel', but I thought I should put it out there in case somebody can offer some helpful hints. I should add that though this book was challenging and obscene, it is a powerful and singularly important text, especially for teenagers, which showcases the many facets of drug culture, and indeed, American culture at large. I would recommend it to any curious (and brave) readers.

1 comment:

Mr. R. said...

It sounds like I need to head to the library!

When I read that you were reading Burroughs, immediately I thought about his connection to the beat-era.

I am drawn to the poetry penned during this time-period because of the gritty, matter-of-fact style that is crafted with language.

The poets of this time has no bones about sharing literal human experience which I find refreshing in a time where either political/academia bombast or Twittered, one-liners dominate. The writing can be so off-color that it is almost satirical compared to today's most accessible literature.

I can tell you truthfully that while I have laughed out loud at some of the poems of that age, others repulse me enough that I don't finish reading them (isn't that silly-cringing at words on a page?). If I am physically reacting to ink on a page however, that to me is the hallmark of a great author.

Other authors that I enjoy reading in this vein include Samuel Clements, Jonathan Swift and John Gay.