LIDIA VIANU

British Desperadoes

FOREWORD

 

This is NOT a book of scholarly criticism. It may not even be criticism at all, but an informed chat, a reading diary. Its major aim is to establish the name that could be attributed to all literature at the turn of the millennium. I am suggesting Desperado instead of the all too vague Postmodernism, which means everything and nothing any more. Any moment in the history of literature has its postmoment, but not every age has so many Desperadoes as ours.

I mean by Desperado literature everywhere that all writers are desperate to use all the tricks ever invented, to be different, to shock at all costs, to be their own trend. The main trick used during the last six or seven decades, which is not new, though, is the hybridization of literary genres, which now mix freely, creating new, baffling, uncertain forms.

Though light and friendly, this book is a tricky diary with a thesis, in the end. It aims at offering an image of diversity and unity in British literature at the turn of the millennium. It formulates common features, sneaks into theorizing when expected least, hides behind clarity in order to debunk the confusing myth of Postmodernism and replace it by a different approach.

The choice of writers is somewhat arbitrary – as the idea of a reading diary suggests – and open to all possible objections. Frankly speaking, this is only one first volume of a much larger project. Whatever reproaches may arise, we must bear in mind that Desperado literature creates its own Desperado readers and – why not – its own Desperado critics. Free to sail forward, the Ulysses term I am suggesting will hopefully roam the seas of many minds, and return to the Penelope of the text after trying and meaningful intellectual adventures. In the meantime, let us wait for him, while drawing imaginary paths and borders for the Desperado land.