The reflection of postmodern literature in pinter's plays

Pinter?s plays have always caught the attention of the critics with its pauses, silences, ambiguities, and intruders that create paranoid and alarming atmosphere in his plays. His plays are often regarded as blurred, incomplete, chaotic, and obscure by many of the audiences/readers as well as by critics. As a matter of fact, all these adjectives that are attributed to Pinter?s plays are characteristics of postmodernism. As Pinter?s plays are the work of the postmodern era, they are unique samples to see the effects of this period on literature, especially in drama. These effects are the underlying reasons that make Pinter?s plays unclear and ambiguous. The aim of this study is to explore the reflection of postmodern literature in Pinter?s two plays. To achieve this, the characteristics of postmodern literature, the ones which are especially emphasized by many authors and critics, will be explained one by one. Then, Pinter?s The Homecoming and The Hothouse will be examined in the light of these features. In many of Pinter?s plays, intruders, power struggles, pauses and silences have been the leading topics to study on separately. However, while analyzing the two plays within the light of the postmodern literature, situations that support the topics mentioned above will be used as an example for the sake of presenting different perspectives in the study. For this reason, the plays will be analyzed within the light of the generally accepted features of postmodern literature which are language games, the fall of metanarratives, parody, irony, writerly text. Key Words: language games, parody, irony, writerly text, the fall of metanarratives