In the novel A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which follows the lives of numerous individuals of varying ages over a roughly 50-year timeframe, there is no profound character development to speak of. The characters’ actions appeal to no higher moral standards, and the reader knows little about where they might end up at the novel’s conclusion, psychologically or otherwise. They simply meander along the novel’s disjointed narrative structure as the specter of time, or the “goon squad” to which the title refers, beats them senseless, robs them of their youth, and opens their eyes to the horrors of the contemporary world.
Egan’s characters, moreover, have no interest in embarking on the hero’s journey, a hallmark of modernist literature, yet at the same time they mock the hollow and overly-critical nature of postmodernism. An entire chapter is even written from the perspective of a satirized David Foster Wallace, a titan of postmodern literature, where the character Jules, a self-absorbed celebrity journalist, sexually assaults his subject, a teen pop star named Kitty (the details of the assault are recounted sardonically in D.F.W.’s signature analytical prose). Instead, the characters exist in a liminal state of being, sometimes referred to as post-postmodernism, where the prevailing social ethos is one that is suspicious of grand narratives but equally skeptical of the futility of postmodernism. Like any emerging literary trend, post-postmodernism has been granted relevancy not for aesthetic purposes alone, but for the deeply descriptive diagnosis of 21st century America that it represents.
In his book Postmodernism: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, author Frederic Jameson describes postmodernity as a wide-ranging cultural trend whose central unifying feature is a “skepticism towards metanarratives,” or the idea that the course of history is defined by a handful of higher ideals or moral standards that we, as humans, strive for. While the term ‘postmodern’ is itself inclusive and far-reaching, the unifying trait of postmodern thought is a rejection of Enlightenment values, such as objectivity of truth and rationality, and a critical approach to the resultant power structures that it permits. Despite being derived from intellectually-rigorous texts and thinkers, the best evidence for postmodernity’s usefulness as a cultural indicator is in the real-world demonstrations of the school’s ideas. The objectivity of truth, a key feature of modernist literature, has been dismantled by the modern Internet, where thousands of users and publishers create their own “alternative facts” for a given audience. Moreover, the Occupy movement of the late 2000’s, as well as the Arab Spring in 2010, highlighted society’s collective disillusionment with existing social hierarchies.
In a 1993 essay titled “E Unibus Plurum: Television and U.S. Fiction,” the aforementioned David Foster Wallace predicted a literary movement that would arise in opposition to postmodernism. Writers who developed their talents reading the critical and unforgiving style of contemporary literature that defined Wallace’s era, he argued, would consequently be “willing to risk the yawn, the rolled eyes, the cool smile, the nudged ribs, the parody of gifted ironists” in order to deliver their art. While postmodernists dealt with the outrage and conspiracy-mongering that accompanied their disparagement of modernity, the post-postmodernists biggest threat is reserved cynicism from intellectuals. Wallace’s predictions have largely come to fruition via a trend known as New Sincerity, in which the issues and insights of postmodernity are taken as facts, yet the hopelessness and misanthropy are replaced with positivity and integrity. The overall gist of New Sincerity, which conceptually fits in nicely to the broader trends of post-postmodernism, can be illustrated by prevailing attitudes toward climate change: the public knows who is responsible and why the problem exists, yet still supports and works to promote general awareness and resolution of the problem at hand.
The characters of Egan’s Visit, moreover, typify the role of post-postmodernism is contemporary fiction. Many of the themes of postmodernity are on display in the novel’s narratives, while the characters themselves highlight the sincerity of post-postmodernism. A publicist named Dolly, for instance, seeks in one chapter to save the image of a brutal foreign dictator by enlisting the help of Kitty, the pop star, in her contracted P.R. campaign. Here, the dubiousness and corruption that many postmodernists associate with unchecked corporatism and authoritarian leadership is taken as a given, and the plot development of this particular chapter focuses instead on Dolly’s misguided naivety in assuming that the dictator can be redeemed in the first place.
While the relevance and intellectual rigor behind post-postmodernism will not be not be fully understood until years, perhaps even decades, of study is conducted and debated, the emergence of a counter-narrative to the cynical and decidedly-negative postmodern school of thought is one that will surely be a net positive for society. Like Egan’s characters, the specter of time will eventually come to steal our youth and innocence from us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to solve society’s problems before it gets here.
