On the Use of Irony in WORLD-MART 05/11/2012
While irony has a place in many genres, it is a fundamental element in satire. When properly used, it can enrich and add necessary depth to a work, offering commentary in ways that few other literary elements can. Irony expounds a premise through that which is not said, but rather implied by exclusion, creating a deconstructionist venue that might show more than simple description might tell. With that in mind, I offer the reader an exposition of irony through a close reading of an excerpt from my dramatic satire and dystopia, World-Mart.  World-Mart takes a critical look at corporate America, speculating the direction our country is heading in its promotion of big business and slow but steady quashing of the small but personal “mom and pop” enterprise. In this first excerpt, one of the main characters, Shelley, experiences her first lone shopping venture at the Food-Mart. Over the loud speaker, she observes, “‘Attention Food-Mart customers,’ the voice announced. ‘For today only, the canned meat product booth is having a buy three, get one free sale (limit two free items). And remember, a hard worker is a happy worker. Thank you for shopping at Food-Mart.’ (59). The main irony here is that Food-Mart is the only place where citizens can legally purchase groceries. By calling customers specifically “Food-Mart customers,” the establishment creates a false sense of value in their patronage, while actually mocking their value as consumers. The limit of “two free items” further exemplifies the actual devaluing of the customer. Consider what follows: “And remember, a hard worker is a happy worker.” By inserting this message, Corporate again imports a false sense of value in the mundane everyman. While their actual role is minimal and disposable, the message to these people is in reality aimed at keeping the little man as complacent, yet efficient, as possible. The final sentence in this passage, “Thank you for shopping at Food-Mart,” is just as condescending. Given that there is no other place to shop, the token of appreciation is actually nothing more than a slap in the consumer’s face, lip service that says just as much about Corporate as it does those it would control. Later in the story, main character George crosses a Corporate landfill, which includes an airplane graveyard. In this section of the novel, a juxtaposition of the real and the fantastic offers a glimpse of all that might be lost through current abuses of energy, waste, and power. George remembers airplanes, but only as a child. When he is faced with the airplane graveyard, he must reassess his memories, the phasing out of large, fuel-consuming vehicles that occurred during the time of his realization that fantasies such as Santa Claus do not exist in reality. By comparing both to God, there is the implication that the heart and soul of American economy have died with the death of free market and commerce, that corporate takeover have killed the average American’s dream of better things to come—that the average American’s free choice to believe in something greater than the reality standing before him, both limited and grim. In the classic “show and tell” of literature, irony shows in ways few others might. It allows the reader to look at a given issue from a creative and open point of view, offering an opening for personal take and interpretation with its implied direction. Irony can be direct or implicit, best analyzed through the deconstructionist point of view, offering greater power to the reader in personal interpretation and analysis. Properly used, irony enables the reader to apply a given reading to his or her personal experience, enriching through implication rather than direct prose, allowing the reader to own the text and interpret it as he or she will.
Add Comment Book Review: EPHEMERA by Jeffery M. Anderson 03/01/2012
Nestor Cab lives in a world oversaturated with technology and commercialism. A reviewer of reviews by trade, he is disillusioned by the never-ending product placement he sees not only in the media, but permeated throughout everyday society. When he finds a picture of a soldier supposedly fighting overseas, along with enigmatic note on his desk, his quest to find the truth behind it sends him down a rabbit hole from which he will never resurface. Anderson proves himself a true wordsmith in this breakout dystopian novel, offering a world filled with vivid detail, beautiful word choice, and well-defined characters. While the first chapter did not hook me, the second chapter did, and I found myself eager to find out where Anderson was going with the story’s many twists and turns. My main criticism with this work is there were parts that felt a bit long-winded, with extended back-story given on even minor characters and several monologues that, while making brilliant points, could have been much tighter. Still, I enjoyed this book (I thought the ending was fantastic) and look forward to more of this author’s works. I rate this book 4.25 stars. 
It is my pleasure to introduce fellow dystopian author, Jeffery M. Anderson, who has some beautiful insights on the genre. Take it away, Jeffery! The Dystopian Virtue Various literary scholars and Websites, have identified several common elements that are distinct within classic dystopian literature. What distinguishes the dystopian tale, when examined, reveals the why of its importance as a literary form. The examination also gives insight into the why of the authors and their motives for writing such generally bleak stories. Classic dystopian novels, such as 1984, A Brave New World and Farenheit 451, commonly involve a humanity overburdened by technology and dehumanized by its own fragility and helplessness that technology has brought on. It is often a humanity tightly controlled and oppressed by a government, corporation or other controlling power that has stepped in to fill the vacuum left by the populace’s inability or unwillingness to self govern behaviors and social structure. The governing power may have intentionally encouraged the powerlessness of the people and helped to create the dystopian society, or simply arose as a response to the decline of self governance. Regardless, the result is always nightmarish. The “heroes” of the genre, perhaps better simply termed protagonists, are usually disaffected members of the defunct society, insiders who, for one reason or another, are not fully indoctrinated by the governing power and not susceptible to the soporific trance of the average citizen. They rebel against the dystopia and try to escape, or fight back against its oppression. Interestingly, in many cases, the protagonists are largely unsuccessful, falling prey to the power of the antagonistic governor. This leaves many dystopian novels with predominantly frightening and sorrowful endings, and leaves readers feeling as hopeless and powerless as the citizens of the novel. The intentions of dystopian novels are pretty clear-cut. The whys of these stark warnings about society are deep seeded concerns of the writers as observers of their own times and cultures. Portraying a totalitarian end result to their concerns over apathy, censorship, over-governance and over-technologied people is a plausible and logical conclusion to these writers, observing the trends of the world. It is a significant and important genre because it realizes fears that many people have about their modern world and can serve as a message of warning that the dystopia can be averted if people become more involved in the formation of their future. But is dystopian literature averting anything, or is it symptomatic of the dystopia becoming realized? The popularity and frequency of the genre has increased over the last several decades. Literature and film both seem to show an increased fascination with the dystopia. There may be something to the idea that, somewhere in our collective human conscience, the dissatisfaction with the world is increasing, as is the fear of its general direction. In my own dystopian novel, Ephemera, the world is not a clear-cut dystopia, yet. But, it is far more dystopian than its citizens realize and it edges closer to it every day. It is a dystopia and a totalitarian power that has slowly been emerging for sometime and is on the brink of taking total control of the people, as technology slowly puts them to sleep. And that is the most likely way that this scenario would come about. Not with a major defining event, but in bits and pieces over time. As the old adage goes – with a whimper, not a bang. There are any multitude of trends one could point to as evidence that the slide toward dystopia has been long coming. It is a pessimistic and perhaps, hyperbolic view of modern history. Still, observant watchers of history cannot deny that the presence and power of media, technology and governing bodies over the daily lives of people has been steadily increasing, if in seemingly innocuous, or even beneficial ways. As to now, society has not hit a stopping point, drawn a line in the sands of tolerance that it will not allow any of these influences to cross. That, in itself, may be of most concern to writers and readers of dystopian literature. Jeffery M. Anderson is the author of the breakthrough novel, Ephemera. He is the former senior publicity director for the firm FSB Associates and a graduate of the University of Iowa. He writes and blogs from his home in New Jersey. www.theephemera.com The 1984 Effect 12/21/2011
The dystopia is a dying art. Popularized by authors such as George Orwell (1984), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Cat’s Cradle), dystopian literature sacrifices the popular feel-good storyline and happy ending for provocative commentary and an argument for social or political change. Works following the dystopian model make use of social outsiders, antiheroes, and intellectual misfits. They make examples of their characters. Good people die. The corrupt do their worst. The world as we know it comes to an end. These days, however, people don’t want to read anything depressing. They want good news. They want happy endings. They want to escape. And that is precisely the problem. We all have our individual tastes in fiction, and that’s fine. Just the same, we must take a closer look at the social complacency current trends reflect. More specifically, we must ask if these trends reveal simply a population looking for mindless entertainment, or if they might instead be an indication of something much more nefarious and telling. The 1984 Effect is the connection I see between social complacency and trends in literature, most notably, the virtual death of dystopia and similar genres. I argue that we as a society have been brainwashed into believing escapism is the key to a healthy, happy life, and with that we have sacrificed free, progressive thought and intellectual stimulation. Like the characters in Orwell’s 1984, society has been taught to go with the flow, do what it is told, and question issues just long enough perhaps to see the political backlash and fall back quickly into line. Occupy Wall Street is the perfect example. Many of us want change, but lack the initiative, the tools, or the backbone to manifest it. Moreover, our minds are in the wrong place. This is not the time for escapism, as tempting the bait may be. This is the time for assessment, reflection, and problem solving. This is the time to be reading the literature about the times. It is time we reject complacency and once again begin looking toward the future.
 10. The title sounds like a famous corporate “person.” 9. It’s only $4.99 on Kindle and other electronic formats. 8. You seek to make one Indy author’s day, one book at a time. 7. The story imagines a future in which everything is run by the Corporate Monster. 6. The paperback would look fantastic on your coffee table. I highly recommend it. 5. Ms. Lane’s other science fiction works have proven themselves as highly creative and well received through numerous glowing reviews and reader polls. 4. You would happily read any work that pays homage to speculative greats such as Vonnegut, Orwell, and Bradbury. 3. You like dystopia and feel it’s fitting we have one for our time and place. 2. It may be the only book you’ll ever recommend to your friends and loved ones that you didn’t particularly enjoy reading. As one Amazon Kindle reader wrote in his 4-star review: Note: This is probably the most confused review I have ever tried to write! How can, "I didn't like it," and "well done" be in the same review?? That cannot make sense. But it does! Do I recommend this book after writing the above? Yes. 1. The ending will haunt you, and everyone loves a book that sticks with them like that. Are we slowly slipping into a real World-Mart . . . and is there anything we can do to stop it? 10/21/2011
Back when I was a child, not that long ago, small businesses were all over the place. There were grocery markets, department stores, and restaurant chains, but “Mom and Pop” were still everywhere. My first job was at a family owned, full-line pet store. My boss taught me the importance of treating the customer right, taking pride in my work, always doing right by the animals, and being educated about what I was selling. The bottom line was important, but not as important as customer loyalty and product quality. Fast-forward twenty years and one would find me working as a manager at a corporate pet store chain. I found the differences between the establishments to be profound—and that bigger does not always mean better. After an especially trying tangle against the corporate red tape on one side of me and low paid young adults slacking under my watch on the other, I remember deciding I was going to write a book that took place in a world where everyone was reduced to a nametag, khakis, and a polo shirt. In this world, no one took pride in what they did, so everything was of mediocre quality at best. The multiple levels of managers and associates made it impossible to accomplish anything efficiently. Everyone did all of their shopping at the Food-Mart, because that was the only place left for people to go. Churches were owned by Faith-Corp. People got all of their news from Info-Corp. And then the terrifying thought struck me that we were already well on our way there. WORLD-MART is coming.... 10/14/2011
 Government and corporate business have merged in an attempt to keep the country from going bankrupt, the effects of global warming and antibiotic-resistant disease having caused a full collapse in infrastructure. The class divide has become profound, leaving most people trapped in an impoverished, working class world with little room for improvement. Complacency and corporate hierarchy control and confound the masses, run by the elite few, collectively referred to as "Corporate." George Irwin remembers a time before the Big Climate Change, back when the airlines were still in business and people still drove their own cars. Sadly, his children have only known an indoor world of endless reconstruction, public shuttles, recycled water, and limited energy. The world has changed much over his lifetime, but he still believes in the American Dream. When an alleged terrorist act lands his wife in the hospital, however, George stumbles upon a Corporate secret that could mean the end of all civilization. What does your future look like? October 15 -- Kindle and PC October 21 -- Paperback Dystopia in Postmodern Literature 11/19/2010
Wells, Vonnegut, and many others wrote it. The canonical literature list includes it. It is the strongest possible way to write social commentary--and yet, here in the contemporary U.S., there seems to place for it. The typical reader calls it "depressing." Everyone seems to want that happy ending. I sympathize with those who want a "happily ever after" in all thay they read, really I do; however, happy endings to not affect change. They do not reflect the realities of life and society. "Happily ever after," when it all comes down to it, only exists in fairy tales. Yes, there is a place for it--but there is also a place for change, for gritty reality, and for statements about the complacency in society. Many of my works break against the current trends, in the belief that mainstream fiction is primed once more for speculative, more intellectually stimulating works. My novels are for an audience that is ready to be shocked, to be intrigued, and to be made to think about the world in a different way. Yes, this can be depressing at times, but it is also necessary. Without a focus on the negative, we cannot focus on creating the positive. Without dystopia, all that remains is complacency. So, what do you think? Is America ready for something new and different? Is America ready to think? Ready to face reality? Ready for change? I think so ... but I'm interested in what you have to say about it. | ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
RSS Feed