Pastiche: Realism And Postmodernism In Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

Salman Rushdie is one of the most remarkable writers in modern English literary world. This thesis makes researches on the content, structure, and characterization of his masterpiece Midnight's Children and argues that the novel shares both realistic and postmodernist features, yet it cannot be categorized arbitrarily as a typical realistic novel as Rushdie doesn't privilege objective world as conventional realistic writers did, nor can it be accurately defined as a postmodernist work since so many realistic elements can be easily observed from the beginning to the end. This thesis attempts to claim that this novel should be better understood as a pastiche of realism and postmodernism, since it doesn't conform to either existing mode. By means of adopting this unique style, Rushdie aims to construct his own discourse, form delicate structure to enhance readers'aesthetic feelings and reveal a complicated world.The thesis offers a brief account of Midnight's Children before providing a literature review and discussing the basic thesis frame in the introduction part.Chapter one focuses on the study of the novel's content. Grounded in South Asian Continent, Midnight's Children adopts an abundance of historical materials to reconstruct truth and present objective reality. Besides, Rushdie brings social function of literature into full play, expressing his solicitude over people's sufferings and trying to alleviate them in his own way. He fabricates some mistakes and exposes his operation process in this simulated context to subvert the authority of history. Through the tension between realism and postmodernism, Rushdie constructs his own"memory's history."Chapter two, after researches on the delicate structure of this novel, displays an interesting discovery that its macrostructure is in a conventional linear order with cause-and-effect arrangement while its microstructure tends to be postmodernistic, showing chaotic and fragmental features. By blending realistic outer structure with postmodern inner structure, the novel is able to achieve the best reception effects and enhance readers'aesthetic perception.Chapter three puts emphasis on the discussion of the realistic and postmodernist techniques of characterization in the novel. For one thing, Rushdie adopts minute details and depicts typical characters and typical environment; for another, Rushdie reveals the narrator's ambiguity, the world's magic and absurdity. By incorporating these two, Rushdie presents the society in a more comprehensive way.The conclusion is reached in the end that Midnight's Children is colored with realistic and postmodernist features. Therefore, Rushdie's contribution not only lies in carrying forward postmodernist thinking and techniques but also inheriting realistic traditions.