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This book approaches parody as a literary form that has assumed diverse forms and functions throughout history. The author handles this diversity by classifying parody according to its objects of imitation and specifying three major parodic kinds: parody directed at texts and personal styles, parody directed at genre, and parody directed at discourse. The book argues that different literary-historical periods in Britain have witnessed the prevalence of different kinds of parody and investigates the reasons underlying this phenomenon. All periods from the Middle Ages to the present are considered in this regard, but a special significance is given to the postmodern age, where parody has become a widely produced literary form. The book contends further that postmodern parody is primarily discourse parody - a phenomenon which can be explained through the major concerns of postmodernism as a movement. In addition to situating parody and its kinds in a historical context, this book engages in a detailed analysis of parody in the postmodern age, preparing the ground for making an informed assessment of the direction parody and its kinds may take in the near future.
List of contents
Contents: Functions and Definitions of Parody - Survey of Parody from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century - Parodies of Texts and Personal Styles - Genre Parody - Discourse Parody - Parody and Dialogism - Postmodern Parody - Parody and Poststructuralism - Parody and Metafiction - The Black Prince (Iris Murdoch) - Changing Places and Small World (David Lodge) - Shame (Salman Rushdie) - Flaubert's Parrot (Julian Barnes) - Hawksmoor (Peter Ackroyd) - Mensonge (Malcolm Bradbury).
About the author
The Author: Nil Korkut is Assistant Professor at the Department of American Culture and Literature at Bäkent University, Ankara (Turkey). She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Middle East Technical University in 2005. Her research interests are literary theory, narrative theory, literary parody, the novel as a genre, modernism, and postmodernism. The author has given a variety of conference papers and published a number of articles on these subjects.
