Beyond postmodernism: oscillation, reparation and affect in contemporary Dutch novels

Abstract

The dissertation is a methodologically driven intervention into the interpretive practices and readings of contemporary Dutch novels. The research departs from the hypothesis that contemporary Dutch fiction can be read as beyond postmodernism. Its methodology emphasizes both the continuity with postmodernism and the innovative elements of the novels. The focus on periodization otherwise results in the homogenization of literary production in a given period and in placing clearly identified breaks between periods. The project’s analysis of three contemporary novels (Zonder noorden komt niemand thuis by Nelleke Noordervliet, Klont by Maxim Februari a Wij zijn licht by Gerda Blees) focuses on the affective aspects of reading and demonstrates how interpretation is influenced by readerly attitude. The addition of reparative reading to previously explored ideologically critical, paranoid readings is an illustration of one of the three levels at which contemporary novels oscillate. The reparative and oscillating interpretations can be produced by means of relational frame that is introduced as a transferable tool summarizing the insights of the dissertation.