Glossary 71
ity, but that also present—seemingly paradoxically—a strong backdrop of
historical people and events.
Hybridity A term popularized by postcolonial theory to refer to the merging
of cultures that emerges from the contact between an indigenous culture and
a colonizing group.
Intertextuality Implicit and explicit relationships between texts that may take
a variety of forms, including allusion, parody (see below), and pastiche (see
below). Intertexts may be literary or cultural (for instance, allusions to films
or advertising copy). Postmodernist thought sees all texts as referring to
other texts, rather than to an external reality. Intertexts illuminate meanings
by drawing on the connotations surrounding the text that is alluded to or
parodied.
Irony A difference between what is said and what is meant. It is a common
stance in Postmodernism, and some scholars argue that it is a fundamental
aspect of the Postmodern sensibility.
Kmart realism Sometimes used interchangeably with minimalism (see below);
a literary mode characterized by spare prose and frequent references to com-
mercial surface details such as brand names, shopping malls, popular songs,
movies, and television programs. It typically features working-class charac-
ters in bleak environments.
Künstlerroman A specific type of bildungsroman (see above) in which the
protagonist discovers that his or her destiny is to be an artist or writer.
MacArthur “Genius” Awards The popular name for the MacArthur Fellow-
ships, grants given annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation to Americans in any field who “show exceptional merit and
promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” They provide a generous
stipend (currently $500,000), paid in quarterly installments over a period of
five years. Recipients are nominated anonymously. Contemporary Ameri-
can writers who have received the award include Thomas Pynchon, Leslie
Marmon Silko, Sandra Cisneros, Octavia Butler, Ernest J. Gaines, Edwidge
Danticat, David Foster Wallace, and Cormac McCarthy.
Magical realism The presence of the supernatural or inexplicable in an oth-
erwise realistic everyday setting. Although often associated with authors of
the Latin American Boom, such as the Colombian writer Gabriel García
Márquez, versions appear in much contemporary American literature, includ-
ing works by Toni Morrison, Gloria Naylor, Louise Erdrich, Tim O’Brien,
and Alice Hoffman. The phrase is sometimes written as magic realism.
Manifest Destiny The belief held by many white Americans in the nineteenth
century that they were ordained by God to expand their sway across the
North American continent. This view ignored the presence of American
Indians or saw them as destined to die out to make way for Anglo-American
civilization.
Metafiction Fiction that takes as a central subject the creation of fiction, often
referring to its own strategies in a self-reflexive (see below) manner. The
strategy consistently reminds the reader that he or she is reading a work of
fiction, denying him or her the ability to become “lost in the story” and high-