LOST SELF IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD FROM THE MIRROR OF THE CITY OF GLASS BY PAUL AUSTER

5th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ANGLO-AMERICAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE, Dubai, Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri, 25 - 29 Mart 2026, ss.4-5, (Özet Bildiri)

The feeling of being lost creates a serious shock on the human imagination and sense of

self. Nowadays, the ambiguity of individuals'identities is one of the main problems that come

to the fore as a result of the breakdowns created by the modern world. These breakdowns have

March 25-29, 2026 / Dubai, BAE 45th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ANGLO-AMERICAN CULTURE AND LITERATURE

also influenced the transformation of literary movements. Described as an extension of

modernity, postmodernism, as a literary movement, exerts its influence by undermining the

legitimacy of grand narratives and reshaping literary texts on the basis of ambiguity and

pluralism.This perspective, which holistically addresses the past, cultural heritage, and

historical process, has paved the way for the widespread use of techniques such as metafiction

and intertextuality in literature; because postmodern narrative reveals that texts are in constant

communication with each other, that meaning is not fixed but multiple, and that the reader

should actively participate in the production process. Thus, postmodern literature can be defined

as a polyphonic production space that forces a rethinking of classical narrative structures.

Following a brief discussion of the modernism-postmodernism distinction, this study will focus

on intertextuality and metafiction, which are the defining techniques of postmodern literature.

The Glass City, the first of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, is an important text that exemplifies

both postmodern narrative techniques and the postmodern individual's problems of identity

through the narrator Daniel Quinn. The exploration of individual identity through the character

of Quinn, along with the depiction of the postmodern world through the metaphor of New York,

clearly reveals Auster’s literary approach. This study aims to reveal postmodernism, the identity

confusion in the postmodern individual, and Auster's literary approach.