A Paper from a Ph.D. dissertation entitled: POETICS OF PARANOIA IN SELECTED NOVELS BY KURT VONNEGUT AND THOMAS PYNCHON

Abstract

Paranoia defines a culture, particularly theAmerican. Since WWII (1939-45), it became aninevitable thought structure in the USA community.Most of the postmodern American novelists’ interest inparanoia is due to its relevance to everyday lifeanxieties and horrors. Since WWII, an extraordinarynumber of writers have used expressions of paranoia topresent the influence of postwar technologies, socialorganisations, and communication systems on humanbeings. Writers as different as Ralph Ellison, William S.Burroughs, Joseph Heller, Margaret Atwood, KurtVonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, Joan Dijon, KathyAcker, and Don DeLillo have depicted individualsnervous about the ways large organisations might becontrolling their lives, influencing their actions, or evenconstructing their desires.