Jamesonian Interpretation of Post Postmodernism: David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and The Pale King

Abstract

Postmodernism and Post Postmodernism have dominated culture and literature since the late-20th-century and in basic features, they contradict each other. In Postmodernism, or the period known as the late capitalism by Fredric Jameson, some sort of fragmentation rather than totality is intended to control again the life of the people through the same media in a process known as consumerism; However, in Post Postmodernism, a new sort of humanism seems to be emerging by David Foster Wallace who shows not only the pain but also the cure. In fact, the subjectivity of man is given a niche, and also he is given a voice to express his thought, like the opportunity he has gained in the social networks like Facebook and Telegram, having made it paradoxically possible for him to have a sort of sharing among the fragmented individuals. In fact, every fragmented man can be an active agent, communicator, and finally a producer to bring meaning and discipline back to the life rather than a sole passive watcher, reader, and one way communicator controlled by the system as presented in the modern and postmodern works. Focusing on David Foster Wallace’s (1962-2008) novels—Infinite Jest (1996) and The Pale King (2011), the aim of this article is to study these three novels through the critical gates of the philosopher, Fredric Jameson to open up the concepts of Post Postmodernism.