On Indeterminacy In Paul Auster's Sunset Park

Paul Auster is regarded as one of the most outstanding and innovative contemporary novelists.So far,he has published sixteen novels,five memoirs,two collections of poetry,as well as a large number of critical essays.Since the publication of Sunset Park in 2010,critics have tried constantly to unravel and explore the ideological contents and artistry of Sunset Park from various perspectives,such as theme,gender study,and identity construction.However,though Sunset Park is regarded as a postmodern novel,the indeterminacy,one of the main characteristics of American postmodernist fiction contained in it,has been rarely touched upon.This thesis applies Ihab Hassan's postmodern theory to analyzing postmodern features in the form of narrative,characterization and theme in the novel to interpret the intention of the employment of the special writing skills in Sunset Park.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter One introduces briefly Auster and his fiction,Sunset Park,then reviews those researches on Sunset Park both at home and abroad since Sunset Park came out,pointing out that in the previous studies,few scholars interpret Sunset Park from the perspective of Ihab Hassan's postmodern theory,and then introduces postmodern theory,including the history of postmodernism,and the postmodern theories of Ihab Hassan and Fredric Jameson.Lastly,the purpose and significance of this thesis are stated.Chapter Two elaborates on the indeterminacy of the plot mainly from four perspectives: shift of focalization,indeterminacy of time and space,blurred storyline and open ending.Chapter Three explores the indeterminacy of characterization from the perspective of the characters.In the novel,almost all the characters are tinged with multi-faceted and conflicted personalities.Through postmodern writing skills,Auster delivers the view that everything around people including human beings is indeterminate and to reach certain cognition of the world is beyond possibility.Chapter Four focuses on indeterminacy of themes.Traditional novels nearly all have its definite theme.However,when Auster uses creative techniques to create the indeterminate character images and plots of the novel,readers will surely find out different themes that are represented by the indeterminate character images and plots.Chapter Five summarizes this thesis.Through the analysis of the ubiquitous uncertainty in Sunset Park,on the one hand,this thesis discloses the confusion and uncertainty of postmodern society;on the other hand,it demonstrates that the writer hopes to cast off the shackles of traditional writing,in order to pursue freedom andinnovation.It also shows the writer's deep concern about uncertainty in love,life,and destiny.At the same time,it also provides a fairly new perspective for the interpretation of the novel Sunset Park,which helps readers to better understand it.