'Why Don’t You Just Say It as Simply as That?': The Progression of Parrhesia in the Early Novels of Joseph Heller

Autor: Peter Templeton
Jazyk: angličtina
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Journal of American Studies, Vol 11, Iss 2
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1991-9336
DOI: 10.4000/ejas.11573
Popis: This article combines Foucault’s exploration of the ancient Greek concept of parrhesia with the novels of Joseph Heller to attempt to arrive at a more complete critical position for an author whose work, aside from his first novel, is often critically neglected. The article explores the way in which Heller’s writing progresses over his first three novels, becoming more explicit in its social critique. It also explores his uses dark humor—a popular device for comics, authors and filmmakers in the period—in his first three novels to preach against the way that American systems of a military, political, or corporate nature control the actions of supposedly free citizens, through intricate bureaucratic webs which border or tip into absurdism, and the fear which stems from the underlying covert threat to the citizen’s wellbeing.
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