"The Human World is Made of Stories": Postmodernism and the Planetary in the Novels of David Mitchell

Abstract

In this thesis I examine the innovative aesthetic techniques and political undertones of David Mitchell’s fiction, asking the central questions: How does Mitchell reconcile postmodern literary devices with a vision of the planetary and; to the extent that he is successful in reconciling these, what philosophical or political statement is he striving to make? The thesis surveys the available scholarship on Mitchell, clarifying issues of definition and proposing a new theoretical framework – planetary postmodernism – through which to read his novels. The thesis proper identifies the postmodern and planetary elements of each novel through close textual analysis and reflects upon the political and philosophical ramifications of these elements. The thesis makes an original contribution to the field of Mitchell studies in various ways: by offering the first sustained investigation into Mitchell’s fiction that includes Slade House; by drawing upon an unpublished interview conducted by the author with Mitchell himself; and by making significant expansions upon (and in some cases, instigating) critical discussions of gender, intertextuality, historiography, narrative, being, and environmentalism in the novels of this significant contemporary writer.