Aspects of Postmodernism in "happy Endings" and "videotape"

Aspects of Postmodernism in "Happy Endings" and "Videotape"

According to Neil Bessner (Bessner), postmodernism is a "slippery term to define" (15). If we look at the literal meaning of the word in a regular dictionary, we may encounter something like "a style and movement in art [...] in the late 20th century that reacts against modern styles, for example by mixing features form traditional and modern styles" . In fact, it has extended many of the fundamental techniques and assumptions of modern literature. A lot of aspects and characteristics of this relatively new current are well exposed in short stories such as "Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood (Atwood) and "Videotape" by Don Delillo (Delillo). In this essay, we will first look at some basic elements of postmodernism and then we will closely examine the ways each of those two short stories exemplifies this type of fiction. Let us start with the examination of some features of postmodernism.

To begin with, Bessner provides six characteristics of postmodern writings and he affirms that "self-reflexivity is the common denominator" (15). It can mean writing that explores its own condition and function as art, through language. It can also mean writing that opens itself to contingency of history. He adds that postmodern writing questions the authority of a centre, for example, rules concerning the form of a story, and goes as far as crossing traditional generic boundaries (prose poems-documentary novels). Always as he says, it can mean writing that experiments with, interrogates or merges modes like magical-realism . Finally, as the term itself suggests, "post" modern, that is following upon modernism . "The complexity and plurality of those meanings reflect well, indeed, what postmodernism is" (15-16). Postmodernism is also defined in Meyer Howard Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham's "A Glossary of Literary Terms" and they suggest that postmodern writings undermine our basic beliefs and experiences and reveal the meaninglessness of life (176). In that sense, it questions a certain authority

, just as Bessner says. They also mention that it is a blend of different types of literary genres and periods as well as cultural and stylistic levels (176). Postmodern language requires that one uses play, parody, irony, satire, indeterminacy, etc. as critical techniques.

So, in her story "Happy Endings", written in 1983, Atwood clearly demonstrates that she is a postmodern writter. The style and the themes of her story reflect it well. On one hand, the form of her short story is typical of postmodern writings. The plot is a good example because it does not have the form a regular plot would have. Instead of a short story with an introduction, a climax and a conclusion, it is a story with one beginning and six different endings. "John and Mary meet. What happens next? If you want a happy ending, try A" (37).The fact that Atwood does not follow the regular or established style could be seen as undermining the authority

in place. The use of satire is another example of Atwood's postmodern style. She makes fun of the naпve conception people have of a perfect and simple life. In ending A, she portrays a couple's perfect life without any difficulties nor problems. They get married, they have challenging jobs, great children, a charming house, worthwhile friends, and chance is always on their side, etc. That kind of life is absolutely not real and it is proven in all of the five other endings, which all have their amount of challenges, like in real life. In fact, at the end of the short story, she says: "Don't be deluded by any other endings, they're all fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just motivated by excessive optimism if not by downright sentimentality" (40). Atwood uses self-reflexivity, another attribute of postmodernism fiction, at one point in her story. "He purchases a handgun, saying he needs it for target practice - this is the thin part of the plotbut it can be dealt with later - and shoots the two of them and himself" (39). Here, she talks to the reader and she is reflecting about her fiction.

On the other hand, postmodernism appears as well in Atwood's themes. In this particular story, it is possible to observe her reject for western value. For instance, in the first ending, the one which she says is the happy ending, includes a lot of the important capitalist western values such as remunerative job, real estate values, challenging sex life, vacations, etc. They may appear in the happy ending, but at the end she says they are all fake and she is being satirical. She critiques those elements of contemporary society. According to Charlotte Sturgess, Atwood often discusses about gender relations in her writings (95). In "Happy Endings", she portrays a few couples' lives and it seems like she wants to show equality between sexes. Each ending has a different type of woman. In ending F, "a chronicle or our times" as she suggests, Mary is a counterespionage agent, we are far away from the canadian stay-at-home mother of the previous century. The last theme is the meaninglessness of life encountered in each ending. Atwood speaks of the death of her characters as if they were only sleeping, as if it was nothing really important. "Eventually they die. This is the end of the story" (37) and "She hope he'll discover her [...] but this fails and she dies" (38). At the end of the story, Atwood says: "The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die" (40). It shows the lack of meaning to life and the small importance she gives to anything that might be after death.

Furthermore, Don Delillo as well shows elements