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  • Essay / Postmodernism and metafiction in Slaughterhouse Five: Analysis of literary devices

    Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the story of Billy Pilgrim. Former American soldier and prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany. Billy undergoes various trials during his service in Dresden. He was an optometrist by profession. Billy's story is told in flashback in many episodes. The construction of the novel is typical of postmodern fiction, as the events are told both through the author's narration of Billy's story and through Billy's own account of his history in Dresden. Postmodernism represents a large part of the human experience. The most obvious human experience in the novel is the metafictional essence, making it a postmodern novel relying on metafiction. For example, the first chapter of Slaughterhouse Five presents the author's perspective on how he came to write the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay My name is Yon Yonson, I work in Wisconsin, I work in a sawmill there. People I meet when I walk down the street say to me, “What’s your name?” And I say, “My name is Yon Yonson, I work in Wisconsin…” And so on ad infinitum (Vonnegut, p. 3). These are the lines from the song that reminded Vonnegut of when he was writing about Dresden. Postmodernism is depicted throughout the novel. Slaughterhouse Five provides examples of experiencing suffering, the need for freedom, and building hopes for peace. The Second World War claimed victims not only on the continent, but also around the world. To begin with, the devastating consequences of the war inspired many thinkers to give world history the terminology of postmodernism. Accordingly, the human arts, especially literature. Before the advent of postmodernity, literature was regularly praised in a united manner and carried certain labels, for example modern literature which was characterized by stable and expressive poetics. Vonnegut therefore offers an "anti-traditional narrative view of the author's vision in the novel." With reference to Edgar Derby, the author expresses his own opinion on the structure of the novel. “Edgar Derby, the high school teacher, would eventually be shot, snorted on another (Vonnegut, p.136).” Thus, the reference to the climax is the author's emphasis on the importance of "the execution of Edgar Derby." Which is presented as the embodiment of the status of modern literature. Edgar was shot dead for stealing a teapot from the rubble of Dresden. Vonnegut comments on the irony of Edgar surviving the misery of the firebombing of Dresden only to be executed for an insignificant "crime." However, the most viable positioning consists of delving into an experiment with the narrative device within a fictional text. In Slaughterhouse Five there is a clearly conscious commentary on the text of its metafictional structure. Because the entire plot of the novel demonstrates the tragic consequences of the fire of Dresden. The plot outlines the catastrophic events that occurred in the city following the attack: “We hope that this little book will be useful… …on the architectural appearance of Dresden; (Vonnegut, p. 17). It is a depiction of the true tragic events that may have occurred during Vonnegut's life. It describes the effect of the bombing on Dresden which destroyed almost everything and how the building was integrated into a new architectural environment after the destruction. Thus, the fictional work gives an example of metafictional statuspostmodern. The conjunctions used emphasize the postmodern text. Additionally, postmodern examines innovative techniques and literary devices used in works of fiction. It is the process of reconstituting what had been experimental in terms of literary imitation and which is no longer experimental with the advent of postmodernism (Majeed, p.74). Vonnegut is a practitioner of such literacy. He describes himself as a composer of the fort as a technique. The author's voice is discussed in terms of double-voiced discourse. The novel plays an important role in determining the author's position in the novel. Furthermore, Vonnegut does not directly present himself as the author of the novel. He uses double-voiced vision. He gives his own perspective on the novel through this technique. The focus factor is the most important technique used in storytelling. It is one of the factors that determines the narrative point of view from which the story is told. Like many other narrative elements, focalization adds a self-reflexive intrusion into the text. Like metafiction, it contains authors' or narrators' comments on the novel. The critical potential of focalization is subtle: it transforms a normal plot event into a rather abnormal one. On the other hand, they tell the story of extraordinary events taking place in Dresden. The term focus is, however, somewhat manipulative. While this manipulation is consciously produced, a self-reflexive commentary appears on the surface of the novel's exposition. On the other hand, the spatial setting is Dresden, Germany. From the beginning of the novel, this is linked to the novel's temporal setting: "I think how useless the Dresden part of my memory has been, and yet how tempting Dresden has been to write about, and I remember the famous limerick: (Vonnegut, p.2). » Here, the connection of time and place is the object of focus. These are linked together to break with the usual representation of a setting in fictional texts. As texts are told in a specific period of time, place is the fundamental field of that period. The object of focus consolidates the technical aspects of Slaughterhouse Five since it is constructed as a postmodern metafictional device. Furthermore, the authorial voice is discussed in terms of double-voiced discourse. The categories and classifications of discourse are subject to the author's voice. Nevertheless, the text plays an important role in determining the authoritative position in the text. The text is not initiated. Here, a double-voiced vision appears as the text progresses, the abstract voice of the author materializing in the fictional context. Moreover, the most penetrating technique of dual-voice dialogism attributes the author's point of view to the depicted textual scenario. Thus, the text and all its relevant devices are elaborated through the main narrative voice. It is critically argued that the main voice of the text is the narrative point of view, where the narrative is initiated from a certain point in the text. In a dual-voice narrative perspective, the voice of the author participating in the narrative emphasizes a specific ideology of postmodern fiction. The story-author interaction in the text is a fairly metafictional device. Similarly, Slaughterhouse Five mixes an abstract authorial voice and stages it within the text. Vonnegut's primary concern is the aftermath of World War II and how it destroyed American individuality. This is described in the novel, when Billy wanders the streets he feels everything is normal. The normality of the entities around him does not represent the truth but a false facade of the reality around him.,1-215.