To be or not to be - The question of identity in selected postmodern American short stories

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne, course: Postmodern American short stories, 5 Literaturquellen entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In his famous soliloquy of Act III, Scene 1, of William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, reveals his inner struggles and his search for identity and meaning. Confronted with and utterly disturbed by family and political problems concerning the crown of Denmark, questions, believes, social conventions and personal convictions are pressing hard on him and leave him searching for meaning and identity, trying to find for the right way through and the right way out. To be, or not to be, that is the question - whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles,‘. (III,1) The question of ‘to be or not to be‘, which is in essence the question of identity, is a widely discussed and fundamental theme of life, a topic many authors have written about and many producers have made the central theme of Hollywood movies. The purpose of this essay is to discuss question of identity in postmodern American short stories. It will include a presentation of postmodernism in its contrast to modernism. Three short stories from different American authors will be discussed in regard to conflicts and development of identity: ‘Lost in the funhouse‘ by John Barth, ‘Saint Marie‘ taken from Louise Erdrichs ‘Love medicine‘ and ‘A Wife‘s Story‘ by Bharati Mukherjee. Special attention will be paid to the story of initiation.