Caroline Rosenthal

Rosenthal’s research goes a long way to illuminate postmodern depictions of the metropolis in the 21st century as symbolic spaces. The novels she examined were indicative of a continuing tradition of nation building, canon formation, and a return to a more realistic mode of narrative, in one case, a 19th century mode. Furthermore, Rosenthal provides new and more rigorous interpretations of novels she has chosen, especially in the case of Carol Shields’ "Unless."

My one critique would be one of breadth. Rosenthal attempts to prove her thesis in 2011 through four somewhat obscure novels that were published at the beginning of the 21st century. While these novels validate her thesis, I would've been more convinced of her arguments if she maintained her extensive analysis through a larger sample size that was more representative of all the work published since 2000 and that were set in NY and Toronto. While she examined these four novels as postmodern works from within the American/Canadian literature traditions, I don't see why her thesis couldn't also tackle works set in other metropolises, e.g. London and Tokyo. In retrospect, her four novels seem untypical of writing today about the city, they led no reinvigorating realist movement of their own vis-à-vis new postmodern interpretations of the city, and for the sake of scholarly rigour these are just four novels against an annual sea of novels that potentially disagree with her thesis.

Nevertheless, Rosenthal's collection of essays is proof of substantial and inspired research. It is also invaluable for writers and scholars who want to understand postmodern depictions of the metropolis.… (meer)