Unholy “Saint Dave”: Critical Reception of David Foster Wallace’s Personality and Works. A Review
- Issue:
- УДК / UDK: 821.111(73).0
- DOI:
- EDN:
- Abstract:
The review examines the critical reception of David Foster Wallace’s personality and works. A particular attention is paid to the appreciation of David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) in foreign criticism as an intellectual, religious writerphilosopher and a martyr (“Saint Dave”), whose works require deep analysis, and as a writer whose popularity is the result of marketing manipulations and publisher’s work, which has nothing to do with his talent. According to some researchers, it was market specialists who created his iconic image as the most important American writer of the turn of the millennium, and his books are unlikely to become classics. Others consider him the author who caused a “revolution” in literature, being the first to oppose postmodernist ironic and cynical attitudes. The paper reviews books dedicated to Wallace's personality, his religious, ethical and philosophical views, as well as studies based on the archive of David Foster Wallace. Attention is also paid to Russian-language critical works, although it is largely based on the above-mentioned foreign criticism. It is concluded that to a large extent the difference in opinion is caused by the identification of the writer with the man, whose life was complicated by the struggle with addiction and depression, as well as by the analysis of his works based on his personality. It is emphasized that Wallace's works are important for contemporary literature, and they are to be studied objectively, without deifying / demonizing Wallace or elevating him to the ranks of suffering geniuses.
- Keywords: David Foster Wallace, critical reception, American prose of the XX–XXI centuries, Infinite Jest, Postmodernism, Post-postmodernism, New Sincerity.
- For citation:
Kaiavo, Violetta. “Unholy ‘Saint Dave’: Critical Reception of David Foster Wallace’s Personality and Works. A Review.” Literature of the Americas, no. 16 (2024): 75–102. https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2024-16-75-102
- References:
Balin 2022 — Balin, Denis A. “O tom, zachem nam Devid Foster Uolles” [“About why we need David Foster Wallace”]. Voprosy literatury, no. 4 (2022). https://voplit.ru/column-post/o-tom-zachem-nam-devid-foster-uolles/ (In Russ.)
Baskin 2019 — Baskin, Jon. Ordinary Unhappiness: The Therapeutic Fiction of David Foster Wallace. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2019.
Baudrillard 2000 — Baudrillard, Jean. Amerika [ Amerique], translated from French by D. Kalugin. St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dal' Publ., 2000. (In Russ.)
Bennett 2017 — Bennett, Andrew. Suicide Century: Literature and Suicide from James Joyce to David Foster Wallace. Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Bissell 2016 — Bissell, Tom. “Everything About Everything: David Foster Wallace’s ‘Infinite Jest’ at 20.” The New York Times (February 1, 2016). https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/everything-about-everything-david-fosterwallaces-infinite-jest-at-20.html
Boswell 2020 — Boswell, Marshall. Understanding David Foster Wallace. Revised and Expanded Edition. Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 2020.
Bowden 2021 — Bowden, Michael. “Shamelessness and New Sincerity: Dostoevsky, David Foster Wallacem and Trump's America.” Literature of the Americas, no. 11 (November 25, 2021): 155–182.
Brauner 2010 — Brauner, David. Contemporary American Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010.
Brick 2020 — Brick, Martin. “Understanding Seeking Faith: An Introduction to Religion in David Foster Wallace’s Life.” In David Foster Wallace and Religion: Essays on Faith and Fiction, edited by Michael McGowan and Martin Brick, 1–13. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Bunnell 2020 — Bunnell, Noah. “Kolebliushchiisia vdaleke: izuchenie metamodernizma v teorii i na praktike” [“Oscillating from a Distance: A Study of Metamodernism in Theory and Practice”], translated from Eng. by E. Maslova. Metamodern. Zhurnal o metamodernizme (2020). https://metamodernizm.ru/oscillating-from-a-distance/(In Russ.)
Burn 2012 — Burn, Stephen J. David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. A Reader's Guide. London, New York: Continuum, 2013.
Chances 2021 — Chances, Ellen. “Dostoevsky and David Foster Wallace: On Parallel Tracks?” Literature of the Americas, no. 11 (2021): 134–154.
den Dulk 2015 — den Dulk, Allard. Existentialist Engagement in Wallace, Eggers and Foer: A Philosophical Analysis of Contemporary American Literature. New York; London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
den Dulk 2023 — den Dulk, Allard. “David Foster Wallace and Existentialism.” In David Foster Wallace in Context, edited by Clare Hayes-Brady, 181–191. Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Eve 2019 — Eve, Martin Paul. “Sincerity.” In The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction, edited by Daniel O'Gorman and Robert Eaglestone, 36–47. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019.
Franzen 2011 — Franzen, Jonathan. “Father Away: Robinson Crusoe, David Foster Wallace, and the Island of Solitude.” The New Yorker (April 11, 2011). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/04/18/farther-away-jonathan-franzen
Freedom and Self 2015 — Freedom and Self: Essays on the Philosophy of David Foster Wallace, edited by Stephen M. Cahn, Maureen Eckert. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015.
Gesturing 2014 — Gesturing Toward Reality: David Foster Wallace and Philosophy, edited by Robert K. Bolger, Scott Korb. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014.
Giles 2023 — Giles, Paul. Global'nyi peresmotr karty amerikanskoi literatury [The Global Remapping of American Literature], translated from Eng. by O. Polei. St. Petersburg: Academic Studies Press / Bibliorossika Publ., 2023. (In Russ.)
Hayes-Brady 2016 — Hayes-Brady, Clare. The Unspeakable Failures of David Foster Wallace. Language, Identity, and Resistance. New York; London: Bloomsbury, 2016.
Hungerford 2016a — Hungerford, Amy. “On Not Reading DFW.” In Making Literature Now, 141–166. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2016.
Hungerford 2016b — Hungerford, Amy. “On Not Reading.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (September 11, 2016). https://www.chronicle.com/article/on-not-reading/
Katovsky 2012 — Katovsky, William R. “David Foster Wallace: A Profile / 1987.” In Conversations with David Foster Wallace, edited by Stephen J. Burn. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012.
Kelly 2010 — Kelly, Adam. “David Foster Wallace and the New Sincerity in American Fiction.” In Consider David Foster Wallace, edited by David Hering, 131–146. Los Angeles; Austin: Sideshow Media Group Press, 2010.
Konstantinou 2019 — Konstantinou, Lee. “Chetyre lika post-ironii” [“Four Faces of Postirony”], translated from Eng. by V. Lipka. Metamodern. Zhurnal o metamodernizme (2019). https://metamodernizm.ru/four-faces-of-postirony/ (In Russ.)
Konstaninou 2018 — Konstaninou, Lee. “Wallace’s “Bad” Influence”. In The Cambridge Companion to David Foster Wallace, edited by Ralph Clare, 49–63. Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Krasavchenko 2018 — Krasavchenko, Tat'iana N. “Angloiazychnaia kritika o «kul'tovom» amerikanskom pisatele Devide Fostere Uollese” [“Englishlanguage Criticism on the ‘Cult’ American Writer David Foster Wallace”]. Sotsial'nye i gumanitarnye nauki. Otechestvennaia i zarubezhnaia literatura. Seria 7 Literaturovedenie: Referativnyi zhurnal, no. 4 (2018): 244–252. (In Russ.)
Kuznetsova 2019 — Kuznetsova, Elena. “Kak prochitat' ‘Beskonechnuiu shutku’ i ne soiti s uma. Sovetuiut professionaly” [“How to read ‘Infinite Jest’ and not go crazy. Professional advice”]. Fontanka.ru (January 22, 2019). https://calendar.fontanka.ru/articles/7655 (In Russ.)
Lago 2018 — Lago, Eduardo.“A Brand New Interview with David Foster Wallace.” Electric Literature (November 16, 2018). https://electricliterature.com/a-brand-new-interview-with-david-foster-wallace/
LeClair 2016 — Le Clair, Tom. “Making Literature Now — Amy Hungerford.” Full Stop: Reviews. Interviews. Marginalia (October 20, 2016). https://www.full-stop.net/2016/10/20/reviews/tomleclair/making-literature-now-amy-hungerford/
Lipsky 2010 — Lipsky, David. Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace. New York: Broadway Books, 2010.
Max 2012 — Max, D.T. Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace. New York: Penguin, 2012.
McCaffery 2012 — McCaffery, Larry.“An Expanded Interview with David Foster Wallace / 1993.” In Conversations with David Foster Wallace, edited by Stephen J. Burn, 21–52. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012.
McHale 2015 — McHale, Brian. The Cambridge Introduction to Postmodernism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Medvetz 2022 — Medvetz, Thomas. “Transcendence, Fast and Slow: Infinite Jest and the dynamics of a cultural splash.” American Journal of Cultural Sociology, no. 11 (19 January 2022): 105–132.
Miller 2012 — Miller, Laura. “The Salon Interview: David Foster Wallace / 1996.” In Conversations with David Foster Wallace, edited by Stephen J. Burn, 58–65. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012.
Miller 2016 — Miller, Adam S. The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace: Boredom and Addiction in an Age of Distraction. New York; London: Bloomsbury, 2016.
Mullins 2018 — Mullins, Matthew. “Wallace, Spirituality, and Religion.” In The Cambridge Companion to David Foster Wallace, edited by Ralph Clare, 190–203. Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Nikulina 2020 — Nikulina, Alla K. “‘Vyrvat'sia za predely iazyka’: rech' i molchanie v romane D.F. Uollesa ‘Beskonechnaia shutka’” [“‘To Run Against the Boundaries of Language’: Speech and Silence in David Foster Wallace’s ‘Infinite Jest’”]. Tomsk State University Journal of Philology, no. 63 (2020): 235–249. (In Russ.)
Nikulina 2019 — Nikulina, Alla K. “Vitgenshteinovskii kontekst razmyshlenii o probleme Drugogo v filosofskikh romanakh D.F. Uollesa” [“Wittgensteinian Context of Considering the Problem of the Other in D.F. Wallace’s Philosophical Novels”]. Philology and Culture. Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, no. 3 (57) (2019): 161–167.
Poliarinov 2019 — Poliarinov, Aleksei V. Pochti dva kilogramma slov [Almost Two Kilograms of Words]. Moscow: Individuum Publ., 2019. (In Russ.)
Poliarinov, Maksimova 2022 — Poliarinov, Alexei V., and Ekaterina S. Maksimova. “Chem bol'she zhivu, tem men'she ponimaiu, chto vokrug proiskhodit” [“The More I Live, the less I Understand what’s Going on”]. Praktiki i interpretatsii: zhurnal filologicheskikh, obrazovatel'nykh i kul'turnykh issledovanii 7, no. 2 (2022): 7–17.
Redgate 2019 — Redgate, Jamie. Wallace and I: Cognition, Consciousness, and Dualism in David Foster Wallace’s Fiction. New York, London: Routledge. Taylor & Francis Group, 2019.
Scott 2000 — Scott, Anthony Oliver. “The Panic of Influence.” The New York Review (February 10, 2000). https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/02/10/the-panic-of-influence/?lp_txn_id=1432194
Smith 2009 — Smith, Zadie. “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men: The Difficult Gifts of David Foster Wallace.” In Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays, 360–419. New York: Penguin, 2009.
Thompson 2017 — Thompson, Lucas. Global Wallace. David Foster Wallace and World Literature. New York; London: Bloomsbury, 2017.
Williams 2015 — Williams, Iain. “Something Real American”: David Foster Wallace and Authenticity. PhD diss., Edinburgh; University of Edinburgh, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31007
