AMERICA, OFTEN ONLY A PLACE IN THE MIND (A CLOSE ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF RICHARD BRAUTIGAN’S ‘NOVEL’ TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA)

Abstract

This article focusses on a close reading of the first chapter of Richard Brautigan’s iconic ‘novel’ Trout Fishing in America. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the thematic peculiarities of the novel. In fact, Richard Brautigan avoided the term ‘novel’, but only used the word ‘book’ because there is neither a conventional beginning nor a convincing ending or a coherent plot in Trout Fishing in America. By analyzing the first chapter of the book in detail, it can be shown that the prevailing topic of the book is an analysis of various influences which lead to the construction of ‘America which is so often only a place in the mind’. Brautigan’s rebellion against traditional storytelling adapts many characteristics of early postmodern literature in the 1960es. Discussing the first chapter of Trout Fishing in America in the modern foreign language classroom may make students acquainted with the following important topics: the illusion of the American Dream, the influence of historical myths and of popular culture (cartoons and films) on the perception of America, an introduction into postmodern literature and theories of the novel. The article employs a literary textual analysis approach, drawing on elements of postmodernist and cultural criticism.

The theoretical significance of the article is determined by its contribution to scientific research on the problems of text semantics and its interpretation. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the analysis can be used in teaching English as a foreign language.