Thursday, August 12, 2010

Acquiring Awkward Absurdisim

I'm not quite sure what absurdist fiction is. Remember Fascism? It's like that.
"Absurdist fiction is a genre of literature, most often employed in novels, plays or poems, that focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they ultimately cannot find, or where actions and events do not seem to be guided by, any higher purpose. Common elements in absurdist fiction include humour, satire, incongruity, the abasement of reason, and controversy regarding the philosophical condition of being "nothing."[1]. Works of absurdist fiction often explore agnostic or nihilistic concepts.
"While a great deal of absurdist fiction may be humourous or irrational in nature, the hallmark of the genre is neither comedy nor nonsense, but rather, the study of human behavior under circumstances (whether realistic or fantastical) that appear to be meaningless. Absurdist fiction posits little judgment about characters or their actions; that task is left to the reader. Also, the "moral" of the story is generally not explicit, and the themes or characters' realizations—if any —are often ambiguous in nature. Additionally, unlike many other forms of fiction, absurdist works will not necessarily have a traditional plot structure (i.e., rising action, climax, falling action, etc.).
"The absurdist genre grew out of the modernist literature of the late 19th and early 20th century in direct opposition to the Victorian literature which was prominent just prior to this period. It was largely influenced by the existentialist and nihilist movements in philosophy and the Dada and surrealist movements in art. Due to its non-conformist nature, many readers struggle with literary absurdism when they are first exposed to it. Indeed, it would be accurate to describe absurdism and absurdist fiction as an "acquired taste". Conversely, this genre is a favorite among scholars because it lends itself so well to interpretation, discussion, and debate."
Did I tell you how much I love it when I can fit an entire wikipedia article into a blog post? Does this mean that absurdist fiction is whatever you want it to be, as long as it makes very little sense? That seems like someone has just demolished the box I was trying to fit myself into. Absurdism seems to be like all other fiction, just another way for us to try and make sense of being human. I actually came to a ginormous revelation about this while ago, while I was trying to fall asleep with much futility (I cannot sleep while counseling. At all.), but I feel as though that is like a random discussion of sexuality: it might be better left unsaid.
In other news, my foot feels like it is going to fall off. Maybe not my whole foot. Maybe just part. Also, I learned to drive a stick shift today. Learned, in the sense that it's still pretty rough to start the car.
Aaaannnnnnnd, I finally saw A SINGLE MAN. This is crazy exciting. The movie was...well...it wasn't bad...it wasn't what I expected...but holy cow, the main character's house is gorgeous.
Isn't that what everyone gets out of the movies they watch?

2 Fab Fans:

Bianka Rose said...

I'm not sure which is cooler: fitting an entire Wikipedia article into a single blog post or....well, yeah that's pretty much it.

Samantha said...

Thank you for understanding just how awesome this makes me.