NACHTRÄGLICHKEIT AND "NARRATIVE TIME" IN JENNIFER EGAN'S A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD

Consisting of thirteen interrelated vignettes, A Visit from the Goon Squad has an unconventional narrative structure which presents a problem for readers to solve. How exactly are readers supposed to go about piecing together the various stories, sketches, and vignettes (which move backward and forw...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPennsylvania literary journal Vol. 9; no. 2
Main Author Humann, Heather Duerre
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cochran Anaphora Literary Press 01.07.2017
Subjects
Aesthetics
American literature
Contemporary literature
Egan, Jennifer (1962- )
Modernity
Music industry
Narrative structure
Narratives
Novels
Psychiatrists
Psychoanalysis
Punk rock music
Reading
New York
United States > US
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Summary:Consisting of thirteen interrelated vignettes, A Visit from the Goon Squad has an unconventional narrative structure which presents a problem for readers to solve. How exactly are readers supposed to go about piecing together the various stories, sketches, and vignettes (which move backward and forward in time) into a cohesive account of events? In response to these concerns, this essay offers a reading of Egan's novel that relies upon Freud's concept of Nachträglichkeit, arguing that only through understanding this psychoanalytic concept of "afterwardsness" that readers are able to reconstruct the events of the novel into a coherent narrative. Moreover, this essay contends that using the critical lens of psychoanalysis helps readers to understand the novel's characters and their motivation
ISSN:2151-3066