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The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction

Daniel O’Gorman, Robert Eaglestone

Sincerity

Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315880235-4 Martin Paul Eve Published online on: 20 Dec 2018

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The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 ticity’ andthe metafiction’‘postmodern movement againstwhichthe(New) Sincerity must be sist ofthreesection willsetoutthetraitsanddefinitionsof sections.Thefirst ‘sincerity’, ‘authen- simplistic; itisnever or andthetwo justacaseofsincerity canco-exist. later. Finally, however, to Iwill alsocomplicatethestraightnarrative ofaturn ‘sincerity’ asoverly of mid-to-latetwentieth-century writing: metafiction, ironicpostmodern towhichIwill turn a calculated, response reactionary againstaperceived fraudulenceparadox withinaspecific style 2010 DaveJennifer Eggers, Egan, GeorgeSaunders,( RachelKushner and ofabodypost-boomerauthors,here sitsatthethematicheart David Foster includingWallace, Inthischapter, following thecueofAdam Kelly, Iwillarguethattheproblemof ‘sincerity’ raised paradox’: state, andgoesontogiveofa itsbasicaccuracyinthestory histheory heconfirms ‘fraudulence Neal, Whilethestory’s narrator, notesthatthisisanoverly simplisticrepresentation ofhismental piece’s protagonist: the narrator’s psychoanalyst,Dr. Gustafson, outlinesthebasicproblemof ‘sincerity’ by faced the David Relatively Foster ofWallace’s closetothebeginning story, 2001short Neon’, ‘Good Old To lineagewithinwhichthey sit, explore theseclaimsand thehistorical thischapterwillcon- out whatahollow, you fraudulentperson really were. to convey animpressive orlikableimage ofyourself sothatotherpeoplewouldn’t find inside –you were afraud.Andthemore ofafraudyou feltlike, theharder you tried appear impressive orattractive tootherpeople, thelessimpressive orattractive you felt Thefraudulenceparadox was you thatthemore to timeandeffort putintotrying you or form someimpressionyou ofyou orform you think you want’. whoalwaysmanipulating person says whatyou think willgetsomebodytoapprove of you ‘IfIunderstand right’, hesays, ‘you’re saying thatyou’re basicallyacalculating, , 2011 , 2012a , 2012b , 2016 , SINCERITY 2017a PaulMartin Eve , 2017b 3 36 ). AsIwillshow, thisisnoaccidentbut, instead, ( ( Wallace 2005 : 147) Wallace 2005 : 145) Kelly Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 102–103). ful inbothspeechandconductwhennoconsiderationsofhonestycomein’ ( 2009 in your subsequentactions? Ifyouthrough onittruthfully? stateabelief, doyou meanitandcanthisbepubliclyseen truly inasocialsituation.Ifyouverified say you willdosomething, doyou make every tofollow effort 2), thisisunavoidable: theonly way inwhich ‘actual feeling’ canbeseenisthroughactionthat ing’s as definitionofsincerity between avowal‘a congruence andactualfeeling’ ( Trilling 1972 assertions made about secrecy and performance that have surrounded its description to-date. thathave madeaboutsecrecy itsdescription andperformance assertions surrounded emergenceofthistrend,broad narrative ofthehistorical Ialsowant tore-think someofthe Ultimately, whocontinue toconsciouslyrebelof authors againstthisturn. whileproviding a manifest themselves withinseveral works, contemporary attentiontoarange whilealsobringing progenitor ofthis ‘movement’. Thefinalsectionwilldetailtheways inwhichthesestatements David Foster ofwhichwillexaminespecificstatementsWallace,portion theacknowledged tothemanifestodocumentsof framed. Thesecondsectionwillturn ‘group’, asignificant Four ofAristotle’s to constitutetheirauthenticself. representationfeel andalsopossessaninternal ofthemselves –a self-image–thatcouldbesaid don’t whollyknow yourself ? Thatsaid, mostpeoplehave abeliefthatthey doknow how they Delphic oracle.slogan Afterall, ofthe how canyou toyour betrue or ‘inner self’ ‘essence’ ifyou that are inherent inany ageafter psychoanalysis, alsoreach backtothe althoughthesequeries Such questionsshow thatauthenticityisactuallyembroiledinthe difficultiesofknowing oneself one knows one’s own inneressence. However, doesthis ‘inner essence’ even existandwhatisit? expression, anumber ofdifficultiesemerge. For one, if thisauthenticitycanonlybeseenastrue if authenticityisabouttheerasure ofadivide between anindividual’s inner essenceanditsouter behaviour; amodeinwhich ‘there isnowithinandwithout’ ( betweenthought ofasanexactcorrelation one’s hiddeninner andone’s‘self’ and outerassertion eraby LionelTrilling, inthecontemporary takendistinction first seriously authenticityisusually or atleastclaimthatitisoflittleuseformany discussions( Markovits 2008 : 21).However, ina the difference? Isthere adifference? ElizabethMarkovits deny andothers thatsuchadivide exists, about sincerity: isclearlycloselylinked to, theterm but separatefrom, ‘authenticity’. Sowhatis above excerpts fromNeon’ Thebrief ‘Good Old illustrateoneofthecore problemsofwriting merely concerned withanaccuracyinone’smerely concerned future actionsagainstprevious speechandbehaviour. of thefuture. between trust, andproof, publicperformance ofthe present between andtheaction therhetoric action (theproofthatthey have madegoodontheirwords). isanongoingnegotiation Sincerity of avowal (abeliefinaperson’s words offuture verification andintentions) andtheempirical that unfoldsbetween inthepresent totrust performance afaith a socialphenomenonpertaining future betrayal is, willmean thatsuchabeliefwas misplaced.Sincerity ofthissincerity therefore, and thepersuasiveness ofhisorheravowal assignifiers; ‘‘‘I love you”, s/he said’.However, any unknowable future andlackofproof, using, for example, aperson’s pastrecord fortruthfulness worldwould were beagrim itotherwise. We have alldeveloped for dealing withthis strategies before onehasseenthepublicproof thatheorshewillfollow throughonhisorherwords –it Ofcourse, to itispossible andfrequently necessary Sincerity, ontheotherhand, isseeninantiquityasa ‘moral excellence’ fromBook deriving 1 Sincerity is, Sincerity thatIwilladvance intheinterpretation here, atypeofhonestythatisnot 3

Nicomachean Nicomachean Sincerity, irony andpostmodern authenticity whereinisdeemedsincere aperson ifheorsheis ‘truth- Sincerity statements 37 2 Although this differs somewhat Althoughthisdiffers fromTrill- to others but isratherbasedonchecking toothers believe someoneelseisspeakingsincerely Trilling 1972 : 93).Unfortunately, : : Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 contemporary fiction,contemporary however, requires someunpacking. way, hebecomesauthenticallysincere andthetwo are oncemore linked. Whatthismeansfor to beinsincere any longer. Heisastraight-talking, sincere (andnow loveable) character. Inthis he avows, feelsandactswithout irony. Hisinnerselfhasbeenchanged sothathehasnodesire However,thesis thatauthenticityisprivileged. Murray’s characterisalsonolongerinsincere; and MacDowell’s inlove characterfalls withMurray’s. Oncemore, thisdemonstratesTrilling’s but helpotherpeople, thereby improving Asaresult ofthis, himself. hisauthentic selfischanged that, ensuring character cannotdie–hedecidestospendhisenergies foroneday, hedoes nothing him. Asthefilmprogresses anditbecomesclear thatthiswillnotwork –andalsothatMurray’s coincidencesintheirinterests herdesires sothatshewillsleepwith andtofeignasetoffalse learn behavesat first insincerely inhisattemptstowinover AndieMacDowell’s character; to hetries twenty-four over hours andover untilhe comes toamore ethicalexistence. Inthefilm, Murray for example, the1993film Habermas’s ( formulation 1990 Habermas : 136; Markovits 2008 trust’, fostered throughsincerity,: 20). prerequisite isacrucial toany kindofsocietalcooperation, in ethics.Inotherwords, inthefieldofso-calleddiscourse cornerstone asIintimatedearlier, ‘mutual Jürgen Habermas’s projectofcommunicative action. Under suchatheory, anew forms sincerity fromthelate-1980s,shift backtosincerity asMarkovits reads it, in findsitsclearest articulation movementswhether theseshiftsare ofclassification).This true orsimplydifferent priorities ever, there seemstohave mightquestion beenanotherreversal (althoughcritics backtosincerity had becomefixatedonnotionsofauthenticityattheexpensesincerity. Sincethattime, how- andjudgedbycan beverified others. whether they are beingauthentic(ifthey even isasocietal, can)but sincerity that publicvirtue Iamadvancingfundamentally distinctintheinterpretation here: onlyanindividual cantell ‘authenticity’ and ‘sincerity’ are linked tooneself, asthey bothfocusonatruth but they are also (for afullanalysisofthese, see Eve 2016 : 123).Thetake-away are alsopossiblebut Iwillrefrainand authenticsincerity) fromlaying theseoutindetailhere Thisisaninstanceofsincere inauthenticity. (insincere inauthenticity Theotherpermutations (sincerity): them frombehaving according tonegotiatedstandards ofsociety, decencyandself-consistency Patterson notesthatpeoplemay beauthenticallyprejudiced but thatthisdoesnotprohibit Secondly, inanexamplethatIowe toOrlando Patterson, onecanbesincere but inauthentic. you make apromiseonwhichyou subsequentlyrenege, you were insincere but authentic. exists, itispossibletobehave authentically, but insincerely. Ifyour authenticselfisaliarand as theyexistbefore currently we toliterature. return Firstly, assumingthatauthenticityreally a few exampleswillserve todemonstratethedifferentiation andauthenticity between sincerity This shift back towards a focus on sincerity can also be seen in various -forms. Consider, Thisshiftbacktowards art-forms. canalsobe seeninvarious afocusonsincerity Asafinalnote, Trilling’s thesisisthat, inthe1970s, whenhewas writing society contemporary but andauthenticityare differfromculture notunchanging toculture, Asideasofsincerity tacitly negotiate?Are theirgestures ofcordiality offered inconsciousgoodfaith? Will they keep theirpromises?Will theywe honorthemeaningsandunderstandings are unambiguous: ofsincerity social interactionandare sincere aboutit.Thecriteria isthattheyor ageist.Whatmatters behave withcivility andtolerance, of obey therules Icouldn’t care lesswhethermy andco-workers neighbors are authenticallysexist, racist Groundhog Day Martin PaulMartin Eve , isdoomedtorepeat inwhichBillMurray thesame *** 38 point, however, isthattheterms ( Patterson 2006 ) Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 of the falsehood inherent to literary representation; inherent toliterary of thefalsehood fictionshouldbe, atleasttosomeextent, fiction tobesincere, they shouldcommunicate insomeway withinatextthatthey are aware ( ofitsownrogate thetruth performance Kelly 2010 : 143).Thisisbecauseforanauthor of is extremely difficult–oreven impossible –forawork (or sincerely) inter- offictiontotruly byple thantheonealready Kelly furnished whonotesofWallace’s short-story ‘Octet’ thatit without: andintra-textualvoice. authorship realm, tothinkabouttwo itisimportant different spheres of ‘action’, bothwithinnarrative and totheliterary ofabehaviouralthis mightbe. description Inorder thistranscription tounderstand to behave ofsincerity, degrees withdiffering but itislessobvious equivalent whattheliterary of sense;a literary afterall, frommy above examples, itseemsclearwhatcouldmeanforaperson this inthenextsection, itisworth takingafew momentstoconsiderhow thismightappearin public ethic( Gordon 1996 : 134; Markovits 2008 rather focusedontheway inwhichirony,: 90).WhileIwilldealwiththe ‘why?’ framedasanincongruity, aspectof isantitheticaltoasincere Interestingly,self. thiscomplicatesany but narrative is ofaswing fromauthenticitytosincerity irony whileintheirphilosophy theyincredulity retainattheideaof anauthentic apostmodern reject intheiraestheticispostmodern ofthe (New) thattheseauthors Sincerity the core facet and even subjectmatteroftenremains (see, thehistorical forinstance Letzler 2017 : 87).Instead, their fictionareliterature; notrejecting allaspectsofpostmodern thecomplexity, fragmentation 2008 literature of postmodern ‘is parasiticonsincerity’, aclaimthatMarkovits complicates( Wallace, oneofthecore components thatneedstobeanalysedisthesuppositionirony claim more accuratelyrepresents life. resentations ofafragmented, complexandoverlapping bodyofliterature thatthepostmodernists realist novel ofthenineteenth-century moralcertitude and categorical findsitsclimaxintherep- realist novel are notcommensuratewithlived Theundoing ofthelinearchronology experience. realism,literary namelythatthesupposedlyobjective andlinearaspectsofthenineteenth-century fragmented works thatseeknew modes ofrepresentation tocountertheperceived of failings withoften-lengthy and experiment embraceandextendtheprojectofhighmodernist authors reader; paranoia; (both ofnarrative represented). andnon-linearity andofthechronologies These itself about fictionortheactofwriting ); reworkings ofhistory; aplayful modethatteasesthe as: literature caneasilybesummarised of postmodern irony; reflexivity andmetafiction(fiction less attention( Jablon 1997 : 21). hasreceived counterparts andtheirwhitepostmodern between thesewriters thus thesimilarities aspectsoftheirwork over and historical ofthesociological privileging itsaestheticqualitiesand son orIshmaelReed, as writers’ thestatusoftheselatterauthors hasledtoa American ‘African share canalsobeseenin,stylistic traitsthatthesewriters forinstance, thenovels ofToni Morri- ; and, ontheothersideofPond:John Fowles. Whilethe Ecoand Umberto Doctorow,Coover, Robert Donald Bartheme, William H.Gass, , Vonnegut, Kurt 1970s onwards, namely:John Barth, ThomasPynchon,Jorge LuisBorges,DeLillo,Don E.L. were fromthe scrutiny whosewritings thesubjectofintenseacademiccritical male writers fiction,least inthesphere ofliterary of, –are aseries white, ratherthanpoetry forthemostpart Wallace’s ‘manifesto’ act–at group documents, targetsagainstwhichthesincerity theprimary 1960s America: metafiction.Aswe postmodern willseeshortly,David Foster to whenIturn fictionthatcametoprominencecirca modeofliterary ofacertain back throughthehistory To towards turn inthelasttwenty-five theliterary understand sincerity years, totrawl itiscrucial To withtheauthor’s begin positionwithregard tosincerity, Icanthink ofnobetterexam- To inliterature, sincerity understand David Foster to aswe withareturn shallseeshortly For thediscussionathand, ofthissubset thepredominant stylisticandthematiccharacteristics : 36).Indeed, seekingnew in authors ways thosecontemporary withsincerity ofengaging Sincerity 39 Markovits Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 from authenticity, andconsistency ofrepresentation. –aboutappropriateness is–atleast inpart reader reception, intention(orotherwise).Thatsaid, authorial inliterature, sincerity decoupled different epochofthenovel, Vonnegut’s ofKurt thesincerity Jane tomarry, asismadeclearinthemany postcolonialreadings ofthistext.Likewise, inavery not morality’ Masoninthenovel andthesubsequentneed forthedeathofBertha thatallows David (see Irving Watts 1994 ). Ofcourse, there are problemshere ofinterpretation, ambiguity, oftheHolocaustanduseresearchthrough denigration work ofaHolocaust-denier, Dresden bombing itscounter-narrative ofthe when hisdeeplysardonic textcanonlywrite break withrepresentation’ ( Kelly 2010 : halfofthisstatement–thatfiction 143).Thefirst isratherthekindof secretcannot finallylieinrepresentation thatmust always –sincerity Kelly toconcludethat ‘in Wallace’s fictiontheguaranteeofwriter’s sincere intentions self-knowledge isadequate’, thuspromptinganinfiniteregress ( 1995 Currie : 1).Thisleads enough thatmetafictionknows thatitisfiction; itmust alsoknow thatitismetafictionifits self-aware metafiction.However, seesit, possible:Currie thisisnottruly asMark ‘[i]t isnot the failure of the failure Consider,or occasionswhereofatext’s theunderstanding haschanged. forinstance, sincerity initely, intothefuture. who convincingly says: outisdeferred,‘I promise’. Whetherthepromiseisborne perhapsindef- thereaderpersuades ofthenecessityitsaestheticcomposition isanalogous totheindividual oftheavowal,verification even Literature whencontestedthrough varyinginterpretation). that implausible) andtorepresent inamannerconsistentwithitssubject(whichstandsforfuture to represent well (toengender sincere, inmy fromKelly’s) reading (anddeparting literature must make goodonitsfunction author’s innertruth: literature isalways anoutward performance, arepresentation. Instead, tobe ative ofliterature. Itisinsteadtosay thatfictionmust dropany claimtotherepresentation ofan that atextcannotcontradictitself; tocontainWalt Whitman’s multitudes istheprerog- famous consistency ofatext’s canstandinforthisfunction.Thisisdistinctly toitself’ ‘truth 21). Thisdoesnotmean, however, thatnothingcan bedonebecause, inatleastmy reading, the fiction ifconvincing thereader of one’s motivation’ was own theprime sincerity ( Kelly 2017a . AsKellythe pointof putsit, why ‘It isdifficulttoimagine onewould write The novel never can. In the definition of sincerity thatIoutlinedabove,In thedefinitionofsincerity isalways sincerity movement.Critical Thesecondhalf,New though, have theirrootsinthe ismore difficult. the many reading intent, methodsthatdisregard authorial that suchasthoseofRolandBarthes cannot represent thewriter’s thebasisof sincere intentions–seemsuncontentiousandforms Hunger: AManifesto ( Patterson, asirrelevant. Like Wittgenstein’s ‘private object’, it ‘drops outofconsideration’ inner stateofan ‘authentic’ represented selfistruly inthatconsistencycanbeseen, asdoes between beliefandrepresentation anditsfuture self-consistency; whether ornotthehidden promise totellthetruth, thewholetruth, andnothingbut the truth?’ ( Shields 2011 beforeDo youanother person thecamera, .] . toextractsomethingofhisorhersoul?[. trying shouldinsteadhonestlyface): journalism master (andthatliterary ‘What doesitmeantoset thatthenovelsignals theinterlinked problemsofauthenticityandsincerity willnever wholly journalism, towhichWallacetype ofliterary aform was much accustomed).Instead, Shields Wittgenstein 2001 , sec. 293). There are many instances in literary history that do not hold up to this standard of sincerity Therethatdonothold up tothisstandard are ofsincerity history many instancesinliterary Inthissense, then, asincere authorcannever berepresented withinthetextandthisisnot Theselimitationsoffictionalrepresentation are wellDavid laidoutby Shieldswho, in Jane Eyre , scepticalofthenovel’s appears future (andinsteadseemstochampiona throughthedisjunctbetween Brontë’s statementthat ‘conventionality is belief inthereason foritsavowals –even and whenmetaphorical Martin PaulMartin Eve 40 Slaughterhouse-Five only aboutatrade-off iscastintodoubt not : 79–80). tomean : Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 events thatare beyond laughter; ThomasPynchon’s ironicquipin fiction, however, thisironicconflictisplayed outinsarcastic humourbeingusedtodescribe acircle whilebeinglaidoutinasquare wouldthat described achieve this.More frequently in them throughtheway inwhichit isrepresented. visualinstance, For themosttrivial apoem throughwhatisrepresentedit ispossibletosignalonesetofvalues andtoundermine inwriting –afterall, andcontent.Whilethisdistinctionissomewhat false form isatypeofcontent– form being ‘bisensuous’, isalsocapableof(atleast)two simultaneously writing different presentations: acters’ discussionofElvisPresley in Mickey known Rooney run whileonasecret asthe drugs ‘Potsdam Pickup’DeLillo’s and char- examples thatWallace gives ofthisare Pynchon’s characterSlothropin quent combinationof ‘high’ (difficult)and ‘low’Just two ofthe (popular)culturalcomponents. ( Pynchon 1995 : 245). people, homosexuals, Roma, Slavs, thedisabled, communists, intheHolocaust socialistsandothers Jewish ofthe SüdwestHerero andthelatersystematicextermination genocideintheGerman cent ofsixmillion, but stillpretty good’ deploys blackhumourinitsrepresentation ofboththe said’ ( Wallace 1993 : 161).AlthoughWallace doesn’t theaural,possible forthevisualtoundermine make‘sights thatundercut theexplicitconnection, forthepresentation what’s of despitenot culture, and(3)mostimportant, these days, tobejustplainrealistic’ ( Wallace 1993 :mood ofirony andirreverence, 167). (2)tomake usuneasyandso ‘comment’ onthevapidity ofU.S. fiction, literary cultural imagesare usedincontemporary forWallace, are: ‘(1) tohelpcreate a 166). Furthermore, incontrasttoModernism’s similartechniques, theway inwhichthese ‘low’ No onedidordoesseethisasagoodchange’became whatwe stoodwitnessto. ( Wallace 1993 seemed nolongerunitedsomuch by commonfeelingsasby commonimages: whatbindsus inagoodway),time (notnecessarily Wallace diagnosesthereason why thiscanwork: ‘Americans 1993 made irony withwhichWallace’s essay isplaying. Inhisview, thereason that ‘television was practically approaches. To comprehend this, thespecificdefinitionof tounderstand ofallimportant itisfirst that detailstheways televisual inwhichvarious specificwriters’ tropesofirony directly informed Unibus Pluram’ withtelevision. More‘E concerned specifically, isanessay primarily itisanessay manifesto’. steam toresolve them.Itisthisdocument, above allothers, thatcouldbecalled ‘the sincerity fictionandfromtheattemptsthatwerethat hesawfrompostmodern already emerging under United Statesthatinthiscasereads: ‘from one, many’) thathemostclearly outlinestheproblems It is, however,DFW’s in 1993article ‘E Unibus Pluram’ (aninversion oftheusualmotto 1995 novel, the state of affairs asthey stoodin the stateofaffairs towardssion ofaturn sincerity, ofthischapter by itisworth closing thesecondpart examining set sincerity inmotion: set sincerity such problems.Mid-way through ‘E Unibus Pluram’, Wallace setsouthiscore statements that suspicion ofallauthority, [anda]suspicionofall constraintsonconduct’ ( 1993 McCaffery : 147). as inaninterview problems thathehadpreviously described ‘sarcasm, , amanicennui, AsIhave previously on outlinedinanarticle ‘’ ( Eve 2012 ),’s Thearea where Wallace doessignaltwo fictionisinitsfre- conflictingmodesinpostmodern Before moving onfrom Wallace, occupy whomust by aprominent placeinany rights discus- Given thisclaim–thatisamanifesto for forirony’ isthat ‘TV isabisensuousmedium’ ( Wallace 1993 : 161).Inthissetupitbecomes : 166).Ofthisphenomenon,DeLillo andPynchonwere aswell asnotingthat aheadoftheir Infinite Jest , was, inpart, anattempttoevade irony, theproblemsofpostmodern manifesto The sincerity

1993 White Noise andalsoby framingWallace’s remedy for prescription Sincerity 41 in obscenely analytical/academic terms ( inobscenelyanalytical/academicterms fiction –youthat mightfinditstrangetolearn V . that ‘[t]his isonly1per Gravity’s Rainbow meeting Wallace : Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 being ‘so jealous, envious ofyou’ sosicklysearingly ( Max 2012 ) andsubsequentlycontaminated Wallace’s life. Thiswas acomplexfriendship, byinwhichWallace bothmarred arivalry wroteof of Franzen’s muddy novel Anearlypen-palofWallacelar claimtotheinheritance. (whowas somewhat inexplicablyinawe ofThomasPynchonandIshmaelReed. outputs inthetwenty-first century Egan andRachelKushner –and Iwillalsopresent thedissenters, framedthroughthecontinuing Jonathan Franzen,Jennifer – oftheirrelationship tothisschoolofsincerity specifically interms attempt togive a whohave‘map’ writers followed American ofsomecurrent inWallace’s wake expected whengazingmore than adecadeintothefuture. Intheremainder ofthischapterIwill SinceWallace wrote, field haschangedconsiderably; theliterary afterall, thisisonlytobe ( beingdeemed canrisk fiction writer ‘sentimental’ affect, –they canrisk orfeeling, intheirwork toconservatism,Jonathan Franzen;and turn asIwillargueissometimesthecasefor or, 2.)the this statement, two heprescribes potentialroutes: canbecomereactionary 1.)thefictionwriter some success)but fortherest ofthischapter, influencedby inwhichIwilllookattheauthors ver’s fiction’postmodern towhichWallaceCoo- refers).Examplesofimagefictionare foundin , we move to ‘image-fiction’, whichisthe nextstage(the ‘subgenre ofpop-conscious lineage tracedthatpointstheway to aclearfuture trajectory. ofpost- Fromthefoundingfathers FromWallace’s essay –whichIwould recommend thatreadersconsultinitsentirety –we seea that ‘I willpassover thequestionofdiagnosis(it’s possiblehewas notsimplydepressive) andthe , thatledhimtocondemnthepopularbeatificationofWallace agrief andeven towrite by expression atWallace’s theunderstandable ofpainthatFranzen feltinthewake ofhisgrief the physician, attemptstohealhimselfinhislaterworks our culturallandscapeinatonethatundercuts belief, itbecomesimpossiblebesincere. Wallace, mistake’, Wallace writes, ‘irony tyrannizesus’ ( Wallace 1993 breaking downrather thantruly thedistinctionbetween highandlow culture. ‘And make no pop-cultural phenomenawithavaguely condescendingtoneofirony andself-consciousness, for Wallace, fiction’s itshares too much incommonwithpostmodern tendencytorepresent Pynchon and, especially,Namely,DeLillo.Don Butimagefictionisnotthebe-allandend-all. Rainbow Stories Wallace 1993 Of the writers who sit in a lineage from David Foster whositinalineagefromWallace, Ofthewriters Jonathan Franzenhasaparticu- able to any such transfiguring assault. able toany suchtransfiguring other hand, televisual culture hassomehow evolved toapointwhere itseemsinvulner- transfigure aworld ofandforappearance, massappeal, andtelevision; andthat, onthe tion, mostlyby young written Americans, andmadeareal attemptto haslately arisen generation by thethroat. that enjoy any significantrelation tothetelevision whoseweird pretty handhasmy U.S.of thosefeatures ofcontemporary culture (ofwhichcutting-edgefictionisapart) Iwant toconvince you thatirony, poker-faced silence, are distinctive andfearofridicule The Public Burning Mytwo fic- bigpremises subgenre are ofpop-consciouspostmodern thatacertain [. ..] : 193). , MarkLeyner’s , MaxApple, William T. Vollman’s sincerity exploring writers Contemporary The Twenty-Seventh City My Cousin, MyGastroenterologist Martin PaulMartin Eve 42 (1988)) they remained friends untiltheendof (1988))they remained friends Infinite Jest You andRisenAngels Bright : 183).Ifwe must always refer to andthelaterfictionsofboth and ( Wallace 1993 : 171) and (with The Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 way Lalitha’s inwhichitspecificallynarrates death)thatisworth quoting: DownwardDog andbewhammedfrombehind’ ( Franzen 2010 and referredtoas ‘dark-skinned’, anawful stereotyping thatfinds itslocusinherneed ‘to dothe of Lalitha, acharacterwhoseemslittle more thanaplotdevice andwhoisconsistentlysexualised of whichWallace Thisisbecausethereunion warned. isonlymadepossiblethroughthedeath open, fiction, ambiguousendingsare thehallmarkofpostmodern inFranzen’s choicetoclose its subjectwell, intheethicalsense. Inatleastonereading, however, Franzen blows it.While single speciesof(noteven endangered) currently bird. Insomesenses, then, environmentalist whoiswillingtoselloutaminingcompany solongasthey protectjustone thelives soldiers,deal thatendangers ofAmerican throughtoWalter, theall-roundnice-guyand in onewayJoey, oranother: from theyoung intoabusiness Republicanwhononethelessenters show theproblemsofmoralaction.Indeed, every singlecharacterin fewer forebearsbutmentalised. Thetextcontainsfar seemstowant nodstoitspostmodern to linear (except atonekeylogically pointwhichIwilldiscussshortly), uncomplicatedanddepart- return to the ecological themes that had first surfaced in surfaced themesthathadfirst totheecological return ironic awareness ofone’s pastself. to oneself ), then 647). Ifthetext’s toself-reflection core andchange(makingcorrections ethicpertains purported anybody but hurt foolsandtheworkingand toopredictable toseriously poor’ ( Franzen 2006 long leakageofvalue fromkey financialmarkets, togenerateheadlines acontractiontoogradual finally came, was notanovernight ofabubble bursting but amuch more gentleletdown, ayear- withregard boom: tothetechnological the finalmeaningofterm ‘[t]he correction, whenit fromone’stunity tolearn mistakes andmake corrections’ ( Franzen 2006 : 323)untilwe encounter today discussion oftheworld’s prison, modern first ‘ Chip’s ‘major, quicksetofcorrections’ ( Franzen 2006 : gives way 34)tohisscript toanitalicised asnaïve andincongruous;reading.of theterm So, aninsufficientlyexperienced forexample, new encounteroftheterm ‘the corrections’, thereader disregards hisorheroldunderstanding Pynchon’s to holdmultiple meaningsatdifferentgle phrase(‘thecorrections’) pointsinthetext(asseen andinhis reconfigurationboth tofeature ofasin- anacademicasaprotagonist(ChipLambert) J. putsit( Burn Stephen 2008 Burn : 128).ThisismostclearlydemonstratedinFranzen’s choice is anonethelesslengthy novel thatdemonstratesa ‘continued affinit[y]topostmodernism’, as density ofhisprevious works ( clearly played outinthemovement from found elsewhere inthisvolume the thoughtsofhideousmen’ ( Franzen 2011 ). question ofhow suchabeautifulhumanbeinghadcomeby suchvividly intimateknowledge of DespitethispotentialprobleminFranzen’s lateroutput, ofthe text(andthe there isaportion Franzen’s laternovel, While, ofcourse, ashere andbelow, more comprehensive canbe guidesto thesewriters and done what a coal truck didsomewhereand donewhatacoaltruck inWest every Virginia week. Orwhether drive carefully. [. . had comeflyingaroundoneofthecurves .] Whetheracoaltruck certain, thenorever; remained unknown. theother vitalfacts Whethershedid, infact, Thewoman heloved loved him.Heknew thisforcertain, but it was allheknew for ’ ( ’ ( Franzen 2006 withthedefinitive reunion ofWalter andPatty, thenovel retreats intotheconservatism V . (1963)). This latter aspect carries withitasenseofirony.. (1963)).Thislatteraspectcarries Thisisbecause, withany The Corrections : 239), whichthenyieldstoAlfred’s beliefthat ‘a lastchildwas alast oppor- Freedom The Twenty-Seventh City , Franzen’s ismost relationship toanew-found schoolofsincerity represents thatphenomenon, but doessothroughcynicismand ( 2010 ), takes avery different tack.Whilethistextrepresents a The Corrections Sincerity still the basic model for corrections intheUnitedStates still thebasicmodelforcorrections 43 and (2006)to Strong Motion Strong Motion : 466). Freedom , thenarrative ischrono- Freedom (1992)), ( 2010 Freedom iscompromised ). Eschewing the The Corrections represents : Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 a postmodern framework.a postmodern Thatitdoesso, however, inamodethatseemsnotonlyunsentimental (viathetropeof and aspectsoftime-distortion ‘speed’) thatitwould beeasytosituateitwithin from straightforward.is far Thenovel containssomany metatextualelements, historical of speed, backed whichare byHowever, historically fascism. placement ofthistext thegeneric depictionsofmisogyny,linkage ofthevarious violence, totheart-forms sexualityandaggression ofthenarrative’slandscape art 1970’s protagonist. Oneofthecore aspectsofthis novel isthe text explores ofItalianart, agenealogy throughtothemotorcycle/photog fromtheFuturists Kushner’s strangetext, and cynicism, but todosowithoutcynicism. framework, though, isethicallyconsistentin itsvisiontopresent aworld where there isirony not thisisthecasewilldepend, ofcourse, uponhow cynical you yourself are asareader. Egan’s of thismodeforthewriter: itcancrossover intobeingbrandedas ‘sentimental’. Whetheror present, but tovalue itmore highlyandtocreate affect.Wallace accuratelynotedthedanger fused withknowledge isnotused, inEgan’s worlds, tocynicallydeplore thenaivety ofthe because we canempathisewiththeposition.Thisconjunctionofpathos, empathy andnaivety depiction ofthesehumansituationsinfictionallows ustothinkofthemasthoughthey are real speaking,strictly inabookdonothave characters ‘knowledge’ inthesameway asareader, the were dancing; and3.)thereader’s knowledge, outsidethetext, ofboththeseaspects.While, the future ofherbrother’s ofthemomentwhenhewas deathandthememory alive andthey naivety (orlackofknowledge)Charlie’s momentinthetext; atthecurrent knowledge 2.) in three different locations.Thetwo typesofknowledge, andtheirthree placesare:Charlie’s 1.) I have already noted, thispathosisthefunctionoftwo different momentsofknowledge, at focus ondeath, theway inwhichEgandeploys ofpathos.As thistechniqueisinthe service ell 2008 : 487).WhileMitchell’s useiscynicalandironic, andwhilebothoftheseexamples how he ‘Shot [himself]throughtheroofof[his]mouthat[theupcoming]5a.m.’ ( can think also of Frobischer in David Mitchell’scan thinkalsoofFrobischerin and iscommoninbothpostmodern of time-distortion ‘post-postmodern’ fiction.Indeed, one has shothimselfintheheadtheirfather’s houseattwenty-eight’ ( Egan 2011 : 87).Thistype Charlie toagainandagain,‘will return that a memory fortherest ofherlife, longafterRolph forward, withinasingle sentence, toreveal thatthismoment, thetwo children dancing, willbe brother andsister–are dancingwithoneanother. Atthispoint, theactionsuddenlyjumps from theGoonSquad the authentic truth. Indoingso,the authentictruth. tothefore. sincerity itbrings words, perspective thisnarrative atthispoint isnotauthenticbecausetheauthorial the moment; apresentness thatdoesn’t toany resort kindofdisdainfuldramaticirony. Inother hindsight; atypeofanticipatedretrospection. Atthesametime, thisiscoupledwithanaivety in rative itbecomespossibleforthenovelist toachieve thepoignancyofknowledge offuture fiction.For, incontemporary strategy withinthenar- byjuttingbetween abruptly timeperiods reunionallow attheend, thewhiteAmerican affective itdoessignalaparticular (i.e. ‘emotional’) as Ihave noted, thisdeathofawoman ofIndiandescentisproblematically ‘used’ in poral anomalyinwhich, suddenly, everything isoncemore speculative andunknown. While, ThismomentofintenseemotionalanguishforWalter andthereader isframedthroughatem- Finally, thisacceptance, but progression, fromtropesofirony isalsowell-reflected inRachel A superb example of this technique is also found in Jennifer Egan’s Asuperbexampleofthistechniqueisalsofoundin acclaimednovel, her toonarrowlyoreven deliberatelyforced herofftheshoulderlessroad. somebody inahigh-clearance4x4[...]veered intoherlaneortailgatedpassed (2010).Inagut-wrenching momentinthistext, two young –a teenagers The Flamethrowers ( 2013 Martin PaulMartin Eve ). Clearly a historical novel,Clearly ahistorical ). toatleastsomedegree, the 44 Cloud Atlas , inhisown of diary whowrites ( Franzen 2010 : 500) does notknow Freedom Mitch- A Visit raphic to Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 AsRonnie(‘I, Ronnie’/‘ 2013 frame theassaultonirony and swing towards asanover-reaction. sincerity Thomas ofauthenticitybut alsoinamoveprivileging irony. againstpostmodern fiction, American, particularly hastaken thisasoneofitspreoccupations inareaction againstthe irony aboutreality andthedesire –andtospeakitplainly. tospeakthetruth Muchcontemporary from alloftheabove isthatadelicatebalancealways maintainedinfictionbetween theuseof looked bytotheidealsofsincere speech.Whatisclear thosewhoseekonlypure conformity one’s toolforsurviving rhetorical own timeline; itisamodeofself-preservation, anaspectover- when RenoconfrontsRonnieabouthisbrother, heretorts: irony’s withinfictionandreality. dominanceandtheneedforsincerity Itis, therefore, aptthat, and/ornarrators,characters asseenabove. Itseems, rather, of thehistories tobeaboutexploring been proposed, intothemouthsof statementsaboutsincerity asimplematteroftranscribing literature. incontemporary Itisnot, aboutsincerity expressions ofwhatitmeanstowrite ashas on andinsincere speech,critical simplystates: ‘But it’s new that thephenomenondatesbackto1971.Thenarrator, however, outsideofGloria’s cynical, whether itisnow passétoattemptshockthroughtransparent dresses, iscynical, Gloria noting novel makes knowledge/naivety subjective andtime-rooted.So, forexample, inthediscussionof dubbed are alsoseen, realism’.‘hysterical Aspects ofsincerity however, intheway inwhichthe fetched, outlandish’ ( Kushner 2013 : 179),James Wood evoking themodeoftextsthat has ofthecoremoment wherein motorcycle thestory accidentthatSandrorelates isframedas ‘far- that Ronnie’s art, inthenovel, isdeemed ‘too flatlyironic’ ( Kushner 2013 : 144)orthemetatextual and ‘straight-talking’ oncemore. but also, asnotedinmany reviews, ‘hyper-masculine’, usbacktothinkingaboutsincerity brings of academicdiscourse, Reedseeksto complicatehisprotagonist’s inorder to narrator distorted thenetworks‘The menwhorun prefer blondes’ ( Reed 2011 : 75).Were thissimplyatoolof OJ’s troubles asenhanced, ormore frequently entirely produced, byracism; structural afterall, NFL starandactor. Indeed, ateverythe innocenceofformer instancepossible, Bearreads protests Blessings, andwhorigorously whoisobsessedwiththeOJSimpsontrials acartoonist Dalkeywith theArchive Press. The novel fromtheperspective isnarrated ofPaul (‘Bear’) Eve 2014 : 27). September becausesomehow itdidnotkeep thetragedyfromhappening’ ( gay humorandpopular throughthenineties, hasnow become anothercollateralcasualtyof11 ing ofHeidi’s inthattextit article ‘argues thatirony, assumedtobeakey elementofurban Juice!c communication, though, apolemicrantonthecontinued deplorablestateofUSrace-relations, Asafinalremark, schoolevidently itisworth ofthepostmodern notingthatseveral writers However, andtoconclude, itisinKushner’s novel thatwe find, todate, oneofthestrongest To give justafew instancesinthisnovel thatexaminethistrope, onecouldthinkofthefact Likewise, in2011, novels, afteran18year hiatusfromwriting IshmaelReedpublished her timeline, Gloria, notyours oranyone else’s’ ( Kushner 2013 : 306). that you are notsomething. is harder topronounce, but let’s try. ing thehumancondition.Oneiscalledirony. Say itwithme. Letmeintroduceyou toaconcept.Two concepts, actually. toolsforsurviv- Important novel, ould hardly be said to merit itssub-title,ould hardly besaidtomerit ‘ Bleeding Edge Eye-ron-ee , forinstance, swipes atWallace’s counter-ironic stance, scathinglynot- ’/irony) seesit, but irony itisanimportant isnotthetruth Diss-sim-you-lay-shon Sincerity 45 a novel ’. Instead, oftenthroughanironicparody to her , Ishouldhave saidbut didn’t. She’s . Giving the false appearance . Giving thefalse Eye-ron-ee ( Kushner 2013 : 315) Pynchon 2013 : 335; . Now,. thenext Pynchon’s Juice! Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 (2014) —— Eve, M.P. (2012) ‘,David Foster Wallace“Metamodernism”: andtheProblemsof Egan,J. (2011) Currie, M.(1995) Currie,‘Introduction’, M.(ed.) in Burn,J. (2008) S. (2009) Aristotle 1 to imposetaxonomies, wars fromover. are far thebattlesofsincerity fictionshowscomplication inrecent contemporary that, regardless ofhow much we would like Suchanactofextreme theefficacyofradicalcritique. ironic degrade of paranoiaandtruth plausibility ofthelatterinorder toshow, atoneremove, how itisthatculturalreading practices betweenalternates polesofparanoiaandviablecritique, theonecontinually undercutting the ( ofbinaries extend thetraditionalpostmodernist Reed 2011 : 193).Indeed, Bear Markovits, E.(2008) —— (2016) —— 3 2 —— (2011) —— Away’,‘Farther (2010) —— Franzen,J. (2006) Jablon, M.(1997) J. (1990) Habermas, Gordon,J.Complex Irony’, (1996) ‘Against Vlastoson Letzler,D. (2017) Kushner, R.(2013) (2017b) Corporatism:Cole- —— New GeorgeSaunders’sSincerity’,‘Language between and Lyricism in (2017a) —— ‘David FosterJoel WallaceAesthetics: New Sincerity Jackson and AReplytoEdward and (2016) New Sincerity’, —— inGladstone,‘The J., Hoberek, A., andWorden,D. (eds.) —— (2012a) —— ‘DevelopmentDialogue: through David Foster WallaceNovel ofIdeas’, andthe (2011) —— withPostmodernism’,‘Beginning Kelly, A.(2010) ‘David Fiction’, Foster WallaceinAmerican New Sincerity inHering,D. andthe (ed.) —— (2012b) —— ‘“Who IsResponsible?”: Revisiting theRadical YearsDana Spiotta’s inDocument’, Eatthe Note, though, thatPlato’s conceptof The latter portions ofthisdefinitionevolved Thelatterportions Charnock, fromaconversation towhomIam withRuth Onealsohastobecareful thatthisappraisalofconsistencyislocalandspecific, though; atypeofappraisal be seenasintimatelyrelated tonotionsof ‘sincerity’ (see Markovits 2008 ). extremely grateful. extremely grateful. that Markovits calls ‘trustworthiness’ (204). Post-Millennial Post-?’, Pennsylvania StateUniversity Press. Nebraska Pr Open Book Publishers. Open BookPublishers. 04/18/110418fa_fact_franzen?currentPage=all 04/18/110418fa_fact_franzen?currentPage=all (Accessed:January 2014). 10 man, P. andEllerhoff, S. G. (eds.) 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MITPress. The PoliticsofSincerity: Plato, Judgment Frank Speech, and Democratic Orbit: A Journal of ofAmerican Journal Orbit: A , 5(2).doi: 10.16995/orbit.224. s ofnarrative). The NewYorker . New York: Scribner. : Essays Critical . Basingstoke: Palgrave, 41–58. parrhesia Writings of21st-Century Journal C21 Literature:, 1(1), 7–25. , Available 18April. at: Martin PaulMartin Eve ‘Forever Young?’The ChangingImagesofAmerica Wrs cited Works Twentieth Literature Century , 57(3/4), 391–422. , laterexplored extensively by MichelFoucault, couldalso Notes 46 Metafiction . London: Longman. The ClassicalQuarterly , 46(1), 131–137. www.newyorker . Iowa City:. Iowa University .Lincoln: University of .com/reporting/2011/ Postmodern/Postwar Postmodern/Postwar .University Park: . Cambridge: . Cambridge: .Heidelberg: Studies inthe Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 11:58 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315880235, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315880235-4 Max,D. T. (2012) Jest”’,‘David Foster“Infinite Wallace of ontheBrink Patterson, O. (2006) ‘Our OverratedInnerSelf’, Mitchell,D. (2008) Wallace,D. F. (1993) ‘E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction’, Trilling, L.(1972) Shields,D. (2011) Reed, I.(2011) (2013) —— Pynchon, T. (1995) Wittgenstein, L.(2001) Watts, P. (1994) Vonnegut’,Céline andKurt History:‘Rewriting (2005)Neon’, —— ‘Good Oldin McCaffery, L.(1993) David Foster withWallace’,‘Interview nytimes.com/2006/12/26/opinion/26patterson.html (Accessed:January 2014). 4 151–198. newsweek.com/david-foster-wallace-brink-infinite-jest-64425 (Accessed:January 2014). 10 Blackwell. Bleeding Edge Cape. . London:Jonathan Juice!: ANovel Champaign:Dalkey Archive. Press. Reality Hunger: AManifesto . London: HamishHamilton. Sincerity andAuthenticity Sincerity Cambridge, MA:. Press. Cloud Atlas . London: Sceptre. V . London: Vintage. Philosophical Investigations:Text, The German Translation withaRevisedEnglish Oblivion: Stories . London: Abacus, 141–181. Sincerity The NewYorkTimes 47 Review ofContemporary Fiction The SouthAtlanticQuarterly , 93, 265–278. Review ofContemporary Fiction ,December. Available 26 at: Newsweek . Available at: , 13(2), 127–150. . Oxford: , 13(2), www. www.