{"product_id":"design-and-debris-joseph-conte-9780817311155","title":"Design and Debris: A Chaotics of Postmodern American Fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading eight major contemporary authors through the lens of chaos theory, Conte offers new and original interpretations of works that have been the subject of much critical debate\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eDesign and Debris \u003c\/i\u003ediscusses the relationship between order and disorder in the works of John Hawkes, Harry Mathews, John Barth, Gilbert Sorrentino, Robert Coover, Thomas Pynchon, Kathy Acker, and Don DeLillo. In analyzing their work, Joseph Conte brings to bear a unique approach adapted from scientific thought: chaos theory. His chief concern is illuminating those works whose narrative structures locate order hidden in disorder (whose authors Conte terms \"proceduralists\"), and those whose structures reflect the opposite, disorder emerging from states of order (whose authors Conte calls \"disruptors\"). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Documenting the paradigm shift from modernism, in which artists attempted to impose order on a disordered world, to postmodernism, in which the artist portrays the process of \"orderly disorder,\" Conte shows how the shift has led to postmodern artists' embrace of science in their treatment of complex ideas. Detailing how chaos theory interpenetrates disciplines as varied as economics, politics, biology, and cognitive science, he suggests a second paradigm shift: from modernist specialization to postmodern pluralism. In such a pluralistic world, the novel is freed from the purely literary and engages in a greater degree of interactivity-between literature and science, and between author and reader. Thus, Conte concludes, contemporary literature is a literature of flux and flexibility. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joseph Conte\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0817311157\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780817311155\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Alabama Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/24\/2002\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.03lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.06w x 0.74d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2002 pg. 630","brand":"Joseph Conte","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48448986710271,"sku":"9780817311155","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e6343f94-7500-4566-9436-0fe4af1e1350.jpg?v=1777261453","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/design-and-debris-joseph-conte-9780817311155","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}