Postmodernist Intertextuality in David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England- und Amerikastudien), 86 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The title of this study is “Postmodernist Intertextuality in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas” and is based on the following hypotheses: 1. There is a particular kind of intertextuality specific to postmodernist literature that differs from previous uses of intertextual references. 2. Postmodernist intertextuality is deconstructive, self-reflexive and critical of Western hegemonic discourses and metanarratives. 3. This specific kind of intertextuality is a key element of postmodernist art. The first part of this work is going to outline some of the social and historical developments that have been associated with the postmodern condition and the rise of new art forms which respond to these changes. Lyotard’s description of postmodernity as an age that is marked by its profound “incredulity toward metanarratives” (The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge xxiv) is of particular significance to this study, especially his critique of the so-called “Enlightenment narrative” (xxiii) with its humanist values. This definition helps understand the interaction between postmodern theory and postmodernist art which are both directed against the same universalist assumptions. In the second part of this study, the concept of postmodernist intertextuality is applied to David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas.