Plurality, subjectivity, and relativity in John Fowles's novels: A study on postmodernism

In the first chapter of this study, the concept "postmodernism," its definition, scope, and different interpretations, are the main focus. Particularly through the ideas of certain prominent critics having written on the subject, on the one hand the theory is tried to be conceptualized; on the other hand its contributions to the changing perceptions of reality, authority, self, and fiction in contemporary culture are discussed. The second chapter and the third chapter are all about how those postmodernist perceptions of reality, authority, self, and fiction reflect themselves in the novels of John Fowles. Therefore, for the former chapter, The French Lieutenant's Woman is analyzed mainly as the best example of postmodernist metafiction showing the concerns of the author particularly in terms of form/narration. Likewise, the latter chapter takes The Magus as its subject and intends to see similar concerns of the author, but this time mostly with regards to representation of reality. In the conclusion part of this study which starts with the "birth" of postmodernism, there is an interrogation on the "death" of postmodernism in company with some arguments of "post-postmodernism." The aim of this study is to discuss how John Fowles by means of postmodernist philosophical ideas and narrative strategies challenges any claim of single/absolute reality and authority, both inside and outside fiction, how he instead produces realities and authorities as plural, subjective, and relative as possible.