Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days Post-Modernism Term Paper

..I am with you, and know how it is." Cunningham utilizes this idea of Whitman's timelessness to weave him through the narratives that build character in his work. Whitman's issues are clearly still timely as his call to question those things that are seen as progress is universal in the developed and developing worlds, alike. Post-modernism is also often though to as post-colonial as the standardization of borders has seemed to stagnate over the last 50 or so years and colonization is conducted in much subtler ways, than were evident in Walt's lifetime. Cunningham, no doubt weaves his artistic interpretation of Whitman into his works, but it is clear that it is with the careful reader's vision of the subtle and constructionist leanings of Whitman.Cunningham's writing is truly an incarnation of the relevance of Whitman to the modern context. He utilizes the turn of many an artful phrase to elicit the reader's understanding of the genre, the concepts of post-modernism and his honest love of Whitman's genius, a clear representation of the post-modern literary tradition through homage and meta-fiction principles.

Works Cited

Bahr, David. "After Hours: Acclaimed Author Michael Cunningham Channeled His Love of Virginia Woolf in the Hours. In Specimen Days, He Considers the World after Walt Whitman." The Advocate 7 June 2005: 60.

Cunningham, Michael. Specimen Days: A Novel New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

Gambino, Richard. "Walt Whitman:….....