JOHN BARTH AS A POSTMODERNIST: A CRITICAL STUDY OF HIS SELECTED NOVELS

Abstract

This article provides a critical examination of John Barth’s seminal contribution to American postmodern literature. It argues that Barth is not merely a practitioner but a central theoretician of postmodernism, whose fiction simultaneously embodies and interrogates the movement's core tenets. Through a detailed analysis of three key novels—The Sot-Weed Factor (1960), Giles Goat-Boy (1966), and Lost in the Funhouse (1968)—this study explores Barth’s defining techniques: the use of parody and pastiche to deconstruct historical and mythological narratives, the radical self-reflexivity that foregrounds the artifice of fiction, and the thematic preoccupation with the "exhaustion" of literary forms and its potential "replenishment." By navigating the intricate labyrinths of his own creation, Barth moves beyond mere deconstruction, proposing that the very awareness of narrative exhaustion can become a source of new artistic energy, thus cementing his legacy as a pivotal figure in twentieth-century literature.