Donald Barthelme Criticism
Donald Barthelme, an influential figure in American literature, is renowned for reshaping narrative forms through his experimental and avant-garde approach to fiction. Born in 1931, Barthelme's body of work, including short stories, novels, essays, and children's literature, defies traditional storytelling by abandoning conventional plot structures and character development. Instead, he employs a surrealistic style laden with irony and humor, crafting narratives that challenge readers to contemplate the limitations of language and the complexities of human relationships. His works such as Snow White and The Dead Father exemplify his use of parody and mythological allusions to critique societal norms, as discussed by Donald Barthelme's Snow White and Robert Morace, as well as Carl D. Malmgren.
Barthelme's work often acts as a satirical lens on modern culture, revealing the erosion of meaning in an "information-crazed" society, a point articulated by Charles Newman. Critics have debated whether his stories signal despair in their subversion of language, or if they offer a regenerating force in literature, a duality explored by Neil Schmitz and Lance Olsen. His technique of blending disjointed syntax and parody is praised for its ability to transform the mundane into a critique of contemporary life, a notion further elaborated in an interview with Donald Barthelme.
Barthelme's narrative style, influenced by the works of Kafka and Borges, is marked by its surreal and irrational elements, a trait examined in Fiction at the Crossroads and Barthelme's Short Stories: Ironic Suspensions of Text. His fragmented, media-saturated characters parody existential roles in modern society, as noted by Lois Gordon, while his work’s innovative nature revives imaginative values, as argued by Jerome Klinkowitz. These aspects underscore Barthelme’s role as both a moralist and a critic of contemporary culture.
In addition to his deconstructive approach to narrative, Barthelme's work is defined by its playful yet profound exploration of language. His stories, as noted by Maclin Bocock, often turn private tragedies into public conflicts, using wit and irony to highlight communication's failures. This thematic focus is echoed in his diverse works—from Sixty Stories to Forty Stories—which continually engage with the existential uncertainties of modern life. Barthelme's legacy as a master of modernist storytelling is a testament to his enduring influence in literature, inviting ongoing analysis and appreciation, as reflected in writings by Alfred Kazin, Eric S. Rabkin, and Carey Horwitz.
Contents
- Principal Works
- Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 8)
- Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 1)
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Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 13)
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Bright Book of Life: American Novelists & Storytellers from Hemingway to Mailer
(summary)
In the following essay, Alfred Kazin argues that Donald Barthelme is an "antinovelist" who skillfully critiques societal norms through his satirical fiction, exemplified in works like Snow White, which parody cultural narratives and expose the pervasive influence of societal systems on individual consciousness.
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Barthelme Unfair to Kierkegaard: Some Thoughts on Modern and Postmodern Irony
(summary)
In the following essay, Alan Wilde examines Barthelme's literary style as an exploration of the mundane, emphasizing how his work reflects the banality and triviality of everyday life while employing irony and innovative narrative techniques to challenge traditional concepts of certainty, depth, and the quest for meaning in literature.
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What Was That, Again?
(summary)
In the following essay, Eric S. Rabkin argues that Donald Barthelme's unique style, characterized by playful yet despairing manipulation of language, challenges traditional novel structures to reveal new insights, as exemplified by his works Snow White and The Dead Father, which use unconventional narratives to provoke intellectual and emotional engagement.
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Mythological, Biblical, and Literary Allusions in Donald Barthelme's 'The Dead Father,'
(summary)
In the following essay, Farmer explores the multifaceted character of the Dead Father in Barthelme's The Dead Father, highlighting its connections to Joyce's Finnegans Wake through mythological, biblical, and literary allusions, and argues that it symbolizes a global critique of cultural idols.
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Robert Towers
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert Towers critiques Donald Barthelme's collection Great Days, noting the innovative staccato dialogue form and the musical organization of the pieces, while also arguing that Barthelme's work remains ephemerally engaging, excelling in wit and stylistic precision in several pieces but falling into inconsequential clever doodling in others.
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Diane Johnson
(summary)
In the following essay, Diane Johnson examines Donald Barthelme's work in "Great Days," highlighting his unique storytelling style which eschews conventional plot and character development for an innovative and prophetic exploration of modern themes through dialogue and minimalist narrative techniques.
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Barthelme at Play in Comic Routines
(summary)
In the following essay, Jerome Klinkowitz argues that Donald Barthelme's collection "Great Days" employs vaudeville-like routines to foreground verbal comedy and voice, utilizing innovative narrative techniques and minimalism to engage readers through an implied dialogue, thus teaching them new ways to interpret his playful literary art.
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Barthelme and Delights of Mind-Travel
(summary)
In the following essay, Joe David Bellamy argues that Donald Barthelme's work, particularly in Great Days, exemplifies a whimsical and inventive aesthetic that elevates imagination and satire over despair, highlighting the absurdity and complexity of human existence through metaphorical and ironic storytelling.
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Marc Granetz
(summary)
In the following essay, Marc Granetz argues that Donald Barthelme's collection Great Days reflects his experimental approach to prose and a shift towards more enigmatic and less enjoyable storytelling, emphasizing auditory elements and less traditional structures, which may alienate some readers despite its technical innovations.
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Polysynthetic Barthelme
(summary)
In the following essay, Richard Howard contends that Donald Barthelme's work, particularly in "Great Days," exemplifies an original form akin to a polysynthetic language, emphasizing brevity and dialogue to invite deeper engagement, exploring themes of gender ignorance and self-awareness through dialogues that lack traditional narrative markers.
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For Brevity's Sake
(summary)
In the following essay, Denis Donaghue argues that Donald Barthelme's fiction, characterized by brevity and linguistic ornamentation, aims to detach readers from conventional attachments to possessions and narratives, instead promoting a refined appreciation for the artistry and musicality of language itself.
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The New Music
(summary)
In the following essay, James Rawley discusses Donald Barthelme's Great Days, highlighting its exploration of success, its stylistic versatility, and its evolution towards a more melancholic tone, while also drawing connections to Barthelme's surrealist peers and the influence of The New Yorker's literary tradition.
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Bright Book of Life: American Novelists & Storytellers from Hemingway to Mailer
(summary)
- Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 3)
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Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 115)
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Donald Barthelme's Snow White
(summary)
In the following essay, Longleigh provides an analysis of Barthelme's treatment of the title character as an anti-heroine in Snow White.
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Donald Barthelme and the Emergence of Modern Satire
(summary)
In the following essay, Schmitz examines Barthelme's satirical treatment of language in his works.
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An interview with Donald Barthelme
(summary)
In the following interview, Barthelme and McCaffery explore Barthelme's literary influences, his attraction to short fiction over novels, his distinctive style of language and structure, and his views on the evolution of fiction amid modernist and postmodernist movements.
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Donald Barthelme's Aesthetic of Inversion: Caligari's Come-Back as Caligari's Leave-Taking
(summary)
In the following essay, Achilles traces Barthelme's use of elements from the German film Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari in his works, examines various other themes employed by Barthelme, and notes some sources from which the author has extracted ideas for his writings.
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Donald Barthelme's Snow White: The Novel, the Critics, and the Culture
(summary)
In the following essay, Morace analyzes Snow White as a work of experimental fiction.
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Linguistic Pratfalls in Barthelme
(summary)
In the following essay, Olsen illustrates how Barthelme transforms elements of physical comedy into linguistic humor in his works.
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Forty Stories
(summary)
In the following review, James offers a positive appraisal of Forty Stories, discussing the themes and concerns present in Donald Barthelme's stories, particularly the fear of familiarity diminishing wonder.
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Living Arrangements: On Donald Barthelme's Paradise
(summary)
In the following essay, O'Donnell illustrates how Barthelme comments on various aspects of contemporary life and society in Paradise.
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The Teachings of Don B.
(summary)
In the following review, Marcus offers a commendatory assessment of The Teachings of Don B.
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Father-Murder and Father-Rescue: The Post-Freudian Allegories of Donald Barthelme
(summary)
In the following essay, Zeitlin studies the role of psychoanalysis and Freudian theory in Barthelme's works.
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Exhumation: The Dead Father
(summary)
In the following essay, Malmgren presents a detailed, thorough examination of The Dead Father.
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Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme
(summary)
The following is a negative assessment of Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme.
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Donald Barthelme's Snow White
(summary)
- Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 2)
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Barthelme, Donald (Vol. 23)
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'The Indian Uprising' or Donald Barthelme's Strange Object Covered with Fur
(summary)
In the following essay, Bocock argues that Donald Barthelme's work, notably in "The Indian Uprising," explores the themes of failed relationships and the inadequacy of language through a complex narrative style that combines verbal play, wit, and irony, ultimately presenting private tragedies as public conflicts with a distinctive artistic method.
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Donald Barthelme
(summary)
In the following essay, Jerome Klinkowitz explores Donald Barthelme's innovative use of language and form to critique conventional epistemology and revive imaginative values in literature, highlighting his method of juxtaposing disparate elements to create new realities that comment on contemporary society.
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Fiction Briefs: 'Sixty Stories'
(summary)
In the following essay, Carey Horwitz argues that Donald Barthelme's 'Sixty Stories' effectively captures the social and emotional landscape of a distinct era in American history, while highlighting a thematic evolution in Barthelme's work from childhood to parenthood, and from potential to lost opportunities.
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Working Like a Stand-Up Comic
(summary)
In the following essay, John Romano critiques Donald Barthelme's unique style and approach to short stories, noting his ability to merge humor with sadness and avant-garde flair, while also observing a shift towards the lyrical and trivial in his later works, which threatens to diminish the depth needed to address modern life's complexities.
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Rouse the Stupid and Damp the Pert
(summary)
In the following essay, Charles Newman argues that Donald Barthelme's unique narrative style and humor represent the ultimate expression of American humor, marked by its distinctive manner of storytelling, and cannot be easily parodied or imitated, highlighting his work's profound melancholy and critique of modern cultural chaos.
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Book Reviews: 'Sixty Stories'
(summary)
In the following essay, Samuel Coale examines Donald Barthelme's collection Sixty Stories, highlighting its fragmented structure, the characters' existential disconnection, and the author's ability to surprise readers with surreal situations and intricate details, despite the recurring motifs and themes that pervade the collection.
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Lois Gordon
(summary)
In the following essay, Lois Gordon explores Donald Barthelme's unique literary style, arguing that his use of language reflects the chaotic, fragmented nature of modern existence, with characters who embody media-saturated, hyper-educated identities that parody existential roles through dislocated and innovative linguistic patterns.
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'The Indian Uprising' or Donald Barthelme's Strange Object Covered with Fur
(summary)
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Barthelme, Donald
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Fiction at the Crossroads
(summary)
In the following essay, originally published in 1977, Dickstein regards Barthelme's City Life as the apotheosis of fictional experimentation and ingenuity and compares it to other innovative fictional works of the late 1960s.
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Barthelme's Short Stories: Ironic Suspensions of Text
(summary)
In the following essay, Bruss explores the suspension of self and the roles of narrative style and irony in Barthelme's short fiction.
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Come Back, Dr. Caligari
(summary)
In the following essay, Gordon surveys the dominant thematic concerns of Barthelme's first short story collection, Come Back, Dr. Caligari. The first collection introduces many of Barthelme's themes and landscapes, most prominently the spiritually weary, contemporary world, brainwashed by popular culture and the media, a society of people looking for 'the right words' and specific scripts with which to duplicate an identity. The theme of failed marriage recurs, and another subject is the problem of using words, because 'signs' sometimes 'lie'. The artist as subject, in his personal and professional life, is the focus of two of the volume's best stories which treat, in a consummately humane and wildly parodic fashion, the contradiction of 'the absurd' in theory and reality.
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Review of Sixty Stories
(summary)
In the following review, Brown views Sixty Stories as a welcome overview of Barthelme's work and “gives ample evidence that contemporary writing and stories of this kind defy capsule description.”
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Barthelme's Code of Transaction
(summary)
In the following essay, Couturier and Durand analyze the different forms of transaction and discourse in Barthelme's short fiction.
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Donald Barthelme: The Aesthetics of Trash
(summary)
In the following excerpt, McCaffery focuses on the “metafictional interests” of Barthelme's short fiction.
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The Short Story as the Form of Forms
(summary)
In the following essay, Molesworth examines the defining characteristics of Barthelme's short stories.
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The Art Stories
(summary)
In the following essay, Stengel discusses Barthelme's twelve art stories, which evaluate the role of art and of the artist in contemporary life. This essay examines Barthelme stories that describe the place of art in contemporary life. All the stories interpreted here examine the role of the artist and the reaction of the audience when art becomes a massive object in the landscape, a museum piece, or an insurmountable obstacle. Though all twelve stories appear unconcerned about what their art works mean, some ask from what materials contemporary art can be formed; others question whether human beings are the proper subject matter for art, what should be the goals of art, or how the artist may create in a restless, exhausted world. The highly whimsical art objects created raise still other questions about the function and utility of art in a pragmatic world frequently indifferent or hostile to aesthetic considerations.
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Donald Barthelme: The Modernist Uprising
(summary)
In the following essay, Domini explores Barthelme's modern consciousness through an examination of his short stories.
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The Donald Barthelme Blues
(summary)
In the following essay, Baxter traces Barthelme's literary development, focusing on his utilization of characters and language.
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Dark Matter: Barthelme's Fantastic, Freudian Subtext in ‘The Sandman’
(summary)
In the following essay, Campbell considers the connection between Barthelme's “The Sandman,” E. T. A. Hoffmann's tale “The Sandman,” and Sigmund Freud's essay “The ‘Uncanny.’”
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Barthelme the Scrivener
(summary)
In the following essay, Trachtenberg provides a thematic overview of Barthelme's short fiction.
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On Not-Knowing How to Read Barthelme's ‘The Indian Uprising.’
(summary)
In the following essay, McHale and Ron describe the difficulties of collaborating on a close reading of “The Indian Uprising.”
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Later Fiction
(summary)
In the following essay, Klinkowitz surveys Barthelme's later short fiction, maintaining that these stories are more relaxed and more generously entertaining, with as many comic effects as the earlier pieces but now with the humor not at the expense of an older tradition but drawn from the properties of Barthelme's own style.
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Part 1: The Short Fiction
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Roe surveys Barthelme's later fiction and reflects on his legacy as a short fiction author.
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Irony and the Totalitarian Consciousness in Donald Barthelme's Amateurs
(summary)
In the following essay, Stengel analyzes three representative stories from Amateurs in order to differentiate Barthelme's early and later short fiction and to explore the relationship between irony and human consciousness in his work.
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Fiction at the Crossroads
(summary)
- Further Reading