John Barth is an American Novelist and short story
writer who employs postmodernist techniques such as metafiction into his texts.
In general, he believes that literature has become dull or tiresome because
there is no fresh creativity taking place.
Therefore, when exploring ‘The literature of
exhaustion’ Barth (1967) believes that the concept of originality is a key
component to metafiction. For example, he states “By exhaustion I don’t mean
anything so tired as the subject of physical, moral, intellectual decadence,
only the used upness of certain forms…” (p.162). In my opinion, this statement
overtly demonstrates Barth’s attitude toward the tedious state of literature.
In other words, ‘used upness’ signifies how traditional literature such as,
linear plot structure or character centred novels are the convection of
tediously mundane or out-dated narration (Pinsker 1991). Correspondingly,
Barthe’s (1968) essay 'The death of the author' propounds “We know that a text is not a line of words
releasing a single theological meaning but a muti-dimensional space in which a
variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash”(p.293). This
suggests that previous narratives are not original because it contains sections
from other works. In other words, previous narratives had a cut and paste
element to them. Similarly, this foregrounds Barth’s (1967) argument and
suggests that literature can relinquish itself by reviving previous
characteristics and transforming them into works of art. In addition, Barth
(1967) acknowledges and privileges writers that fulfil this task such as, Borge
and Beckett. This implies that writers such as Borge and Beckett are able to
create new pieces of literature whilst employing metafictional concepts.
Moving forward, Barthe (1968) states “A text’s unity
lies not in its origin but in its destination. Yet this destination cannot any
longer be personal…”(p.294). In other words, if a piece of literature is
constructed in relation to the input of the reader, then there will be room for
personal opinions. This implies that the reader will not attain unnecessary
information with regards to the provided material. Congruently, Dipple (1995) suggests “We succumb to
being dominated” (p.221). This implies that the reader will unconsciously be
dominated through a text under the control of the author. However, Barth (1968)
disagrees with this conception as he suggests “The birth of the reader must be
at the cost of the death of the author” (p.294). In other words, the control of
the author should be removed. Therefore, the reader will have total control in
terms of how they interpret a text. In comparison, Barth (1967) identifies that
one of Borge’s cardinal themes is “When the characters in a work of fiction
become readers or authors of the fiction that are in” (p.169). This suggests
that it is possible for an author to be created in a text. However, the author
will not realise that they are in a narrative. In other words, the fictional
author will rely on the audience for its existence.
In relation to John Barth’s (1967) essay, ‘The Literature of exhaustion’, a later critic, Currie (1995) establishes that the novel was an artful exposition of intelligence that demonstrated narrative authority. Furthermore, Currie (1995) acknowledges that the novel is a form of storytelling. Therefore, it can be documented as a part of history. In addition, Currie (1995) denotes “The self-conscious novel had the power to explore not only its conditions of its own production, but the implications of narrative explanations…” (p.14). In other words, as the 1980's approached there became a new relevance of theory to the novel. Therefore, questions such as, representation and originality emerged.
