A Critical Journey from American Romanticism to Postmodernism: Mat Johnson’s Pym as a Metafictional Parody

Abstract

Kang, Meeyoung. “A Critical Journey from American Romanticism to Postmodernism: Mat Johnson’s Pym as a Metafictional Parody.” Studies in English Language & Literature 46.4 (2020): 1-16. Mat Johnson’s Pym (2011) is a satirical parody in which he anatomizes Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket for the purpose of lampooning American colonial and racist subconsciousness. Pym repeats The Narrative with a similar plot and characterization, but creates a chasm in which its reader can see the contradiction of white ideology including white supremacy and imperialism inherent in The Narrative. Moreover, analysis of generic ideology as it relates the Romance novel and American Romanticism enables us to stand against lingering racist discourse in American culture. In so doing, Johnson employs a technique of metafictional parody as a counterpart to the American romance novel, which has long been considered a representative American literary genre. Johnson associates American Romanticism with historical and political dimensions at the time of rising nationalism and racism, using postmodern strategies, including intertexuality, parody, and self-reflexivity. In this way, Pym becomes a place where the journey from American romanticism to postmodernism takes place.