Metanarrative

3. Bleeding Edge: waiting to be reassembled The ‘Word’ is definitely an interesting concept in The Crying of Lot 49, simply because of the myriad of analyses and meanings it received (cf. Grant 2008; Schaub 2013). What perhaps then is even more intriguing is its reappearance in Pynchon’s latest novel, Bleeding Edge, almost half a century later: ‘[Maxine is talking in DeepArcher to an enigmatic woman, after September 11. The woman says:] “Only here to have a look. Find out how long I can stay…

Vonnegut’s fusion of historical fiction and science fiction in Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut, 1969), allows for an exploration of the aftermath of the war on both individuals who fought in it, and society post-war, which he does more specifically through the character of the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, and his invention of Tralfamadore. Noted by Kevin Brown, Vonnegut wanted to “remind the reader of the anomic alienation that existed in the society that came after that war” (Brown, 2011), which…

From the rise of grandeur megachurches to certain celebrity preachers on TV, prosperity gospels have infiltrated into the American culture and indoctrinated believers with the fallacy that faith in God leads to a “good life.” Many Christians habitually assume a false façade of perfection to demonstrate piety while using the Bible as a manual toward the unattainable perfect lives. After all, if believers suffer, it must be due to insufficient prayers and the lack of faith in God. God, then,…

In the 1882 collection The Gay Science German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first stated the idea “God is dead!” a point which he later referred back to throughout his body of work. The death of God has become a widely quoted statement and as such has met various interpretations and misinterpretations leading to a wide general debate as to whether Nietzsche was actually correct in proclaiming the death of God. In answering this question, it becomes of fundamental importance that there must be…

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein written in 1818 is a novel about scientist Victor Frankenstein who brings a creature to life, and the journey of the two from the monsters creation to their demise. Many interpretations and readings have been attributed to this novel, all of which apply a different understanding to the meaning of the text, the themes and the characters. The notion of the monster and the pursuit of knowledge in a slowly globalising world is prevalent throughout the novel and will…

There has been great debate over the difference between the surrealist and the avant-garde, and whether or not they are simply different branches of the same movement, that surrealism is just a romanticised extension of the avant-garde. André Breton, the movement’s considered leader, regarded surrealism as a belief in superior forms of reality in his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, and irrespective of more contemporary arguments over the exact definition or difference, was above all explicit in his…

Dame Muriel Spark (Feb. 1, 1918 – April 13, 2006) “an arcane puzzle in the mapping of contemporary literature” (Sawada 11), occupies an important place among the post-war British novelists. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945. Quite early in her life she decided to adopt writing as a profession and began writing seriously after the war. Spark started her writing career with poetry and literary criticism, under her married name.…

In its quest for legitimacy, the traditional view in public administration distinctly attempts to associate reason with judgment. The desire for rational, technical decision-making has become a powerful organizing principle in public administration. While this model has dominated the discussions and debates in the scholarly work, there are some who also argue that legitimacy of the state itself is not public administration’s problem (Miller, 2004a). Miller’s position takes place under a working…

Introduction Defining the Gospel is a challenging task when considering every aspect involved. On the surface, it appears that the Gospel is the story of Jesus: His birth, death, and resurrection. When looking deeper at the story of the Gospel, though, it is so much more. The story of the Gospel is not solely contained within the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Rather, the Gospel is everything from Genesis to Revelation, because ultimately, everything points to Christ. God has been telling…