Fragmentation and Uncertainty: A Postmodern Analysis of "Liberation Day"

Abstract

This paper examines George Saunders's short story "Liberation Day" using postmodernist literary theory to analyse its fragmented narrative, unreliable narration, and construction of a surreal atmosphere. While previous research has addressed postmodern elements in Saunders' earlier works, his recent fiction remains under-theorized, however, in this paradigm. Through close reading and postmodern theories from Lyotard, Derrida, and Foucault, the present study investigates Saunders' use of postmodern techniques to challenge contemporary power relations and epistemological assumptions. The analysis reveals that Saunders strategically subverts classical notions of historical verity; and that his deliberate blurring of fiction and reality also challenges common notions of knowledge and perception. The paper demonstrates that his narrators emerge effectively to subvert familiar structures of power and authority. An engineered surreal atmosphere thus creates productive cognitive estrangement to invite active meaning construction on the part of the readers. In the context of such findings, this work contributes to the new wave of research on Saunders' fiction, which demonstrates ways in which contemporary fiction can deploy postmodern tools for addressing complex social and philosophical concerns in a fragmented information culture. The present research also highlights the need for more empirical research about readers' responses to postmodern fiction in digital culture.

Keywords: George Saunders, "Liberation Day", postmodernism, fragmented narrative, unreliable narrators, cognitive estrangement, epistemological uncertainty