Reflections

As the course went on, I was continually reminded of my blog title, “Postmodernist Fiction: Blurring the Lines.” I think it was a fitting choice for a title, because we constantly questioned the lines between history and fiction, and the blurring that took place really cleared up a lot by creating intriguing questions. I have always had the questions about how accurate history is, but this class opened my eyes to the reality of contrast in history versus fiction that I had not considered all too much. I was drawn in again and again by the intertwining of both history and fiction in each novel, and that was great to read with an increasingly aware stance of the power of such writing.

All the books this semester were neat to read. Mumbo Jumbo was indeed the least appealing at the start, but I warmed up to it as the novel progressed. Although it was not a page-turner like Kindred, for example, it was so rich in ideas that it was hard not to appreciate. Stylistically I didn’t like the novel, however I gradually enjoyed the novel more and more as time progressed, because there are so many threads and concepts to follow, and it is intellectually stimulating. As a result, I really enjoyed writing the paper for Mumbo Jumbo, and really, all the papers. The class discussions were excellent in delving into subject area regarding the concepts of each novel, and while I did not have a loud voice in class, I definitely enjoyed and gained a lot from each discussion. That is ultimately why I like this class so much, it made me think in  literally everything we did.

Like many people in the class, my favorite novels this semester were Slaughterhouse-Five and Ragtime. They also had a plethora of ideas as well, and they were page-turners at the same time. In all novels that we read, but especially Ragtime, I developed a habit of constantly thinking about what each character represents. It was nice to start the course with Ragtime because it was so clear in demonstrating what a historical fiction looks like – the inexplicable events, inexplicable meetings, symbolic characters, historical characters, fictional yet seemingly historical characters. Since we read it first, I also constantly compared the other novels to Ragtime which for me personally was a fun aspect of the course. During sophomore year, my favorite paper was one where I compared and contrasted two novels we read, it is something I have always been attracted to in literature studies. So I did a lot of that this semester, and I appreciated comments that would arise during class discussions that falls into that category of comparison – whether it was putting specific characters, events or entire novels side by side. I can most definitely say that this course was enjoyable and thought-provoking.