An Analysis Of The Postmodern Features In God Knows

Joseph Heller(1923-1999)was a distinguished American writer in the twentieth century who has gained worldwide fame for his Catch-22.His works have received widespread attention and praise for the humorous languages,absurd plots and biting satire.Published in 1984,God Knows won the French Medici Prize and is Heller's another masterpiece.Adapted from Samuel and Kings in the Bible,it tells David's story from a stone-throwing boy to a powerful king.God Knows has received much attention from foreign scholars since its publication.However,it has not attracted as much attention in China as Heller's Catch-22,thus there is not much research on God Knows at home.Heller is one of the pioneers of American postmodern literature and his works have typical postmodern features.Based on the postmodernism theory,this thesis makes a study of the artistic features of intertextuality,indeterminacy and popularization in God Knows and analyzes the important role of postmodern narrative in characterization and theme interpretation.This thesis consists of six parts,namely Introduction,four chapters of the body and Conclusion.The Introduction gives an overview of the life and literary achievements of Joseph Heller,the writing background and storyline of God Knows,the research on God Knows at home and abroad,and the significance of this thesis.Chapter One illustrates the development of the term “postmodernism”,the core of postmodernism and the main features of postmodern literature.This chapter focuses on the concepts of intertextuality,indeterminacy and popularization and their relationships with postmodernism.Chapter Two elaborates on intertextuality in God Knows.Firstly,Heller changes the traditional images of David,Bathsheba and God by rewriting the biblical stories.He deconstructs the heroic David and subverts the authority of God and the Bible in witty language.Secondly,David repeatedly mentions the artists such as Shakespeare and Bach,citing a large number of classic works.The use of allusion not onlyenriches the meaning of the text,but also reveals David's artist identity.The novel is connected with other texts through parody and allusion.Chapter Three analyzes indeterminacy in God Knows.Heller changes the traditional narrative through non-linear narrative,anachronism and an open ending.The past,the present and the future are intermingled,and the plot is incoherent and indeterminate.The indeterminacy of the theme is reflected in the complexity of the theme of religion and father-son.David hates God and seeks God's guidance as well.The relationships between Saul and David,David and Absalom are complicated.Their love and hatred are closely intertwined.The theme of the novel is diverse and open,and the interpretation of the meaning relies on the active participation of readers.The anti-hero Solomon reveals the indeterminacy of the character and the absurdity of postmodern society.Chapter Four discusses popularization in God Knows.Firstly,God Knows can be regarded as a love story.The wonderful stories between David and Bathsheba,and David and Michal serve as the main line of the novel.Heller fills the narrative gaps in the Bible,making the story more interesting and readable.Secondly,the popularization in language manifests as sexual descriptions and a mixture of popular languages.These popular expressions are conducive to creating real and vivid characters and breaking the barriers between biblical stories and popular stories as well as the barriers between high literature and popular literature,which reflects the tendency to popularization of postmodern literature.The Conclusion states that God Knows is a typical postmodern work that has distinct postmodern features such as intertextuality,indeterminacy and popularization.These characteristics reveal the diversity and openness of postmodern literature and add much to the artistic charm of the novel.The Conclusion also points out that Heller is a critical thinker who expresses his thinking of authority and justice as well as his concern and worry about social issues by shaping subversive characters and absurd stories.