The American novel after World War II: Early postmodernism

Although discussions of Postmodern American literature tend to focus on formal and stylistic experimentation, there are thematic characteristics of this literature that precede and lay the foundation for the textual experimentation. Early Postmodern literature begins at around the end of World War II. In fact, the mass destruction of World War II provides the catalyst for a dramatic enough change in literature that it can no longer be read as Modernism. Modern texts offer some optimism in response to the problems of American society; Postmodern texts offer only despair.;Kurt Vonnegut is thought of as a Postmodern writer because many of his texts are formally experimental. But his novels are also thematically Postmodern. Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan both end with characters who are unable to reconcile the superficial abundance of their lives with the spiritual impoverishment. Unlike Vonnegut, James Jones is always labeled a Realist because his texts seem mimetic. Yet, unlike Modernist novels, Jones's novels also end with unanswered questions and even unmitigated despair. Although Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man shares many characteristics with the novels of Vonnegut and Jones, it offers a notably different response to World War II and its aftermath. Ellison's protagonist reacts to post-war society as someone alienated not only by the confusions permeating society but also by racial inequality. The final section of Invisible Man leaves the protagonist ill-prepared for life above ground than he has ever been. Tillie Olsen and Ann Petry offer voices from the homefront. Each writer tells the story of women struggling to survive in post-World War II America. Each describes aspects of society that radically contradict the optimistic visions created by mainstream media and marketed to the public.