Metafiction And Claustrophobia In Paul Auster's City Of Glass

Abstract

This paper addresses the argument that metafiction and reality are fundamentally identical in that they are both linguistic constructs within which humans experience claustrophobia. Metafiction exemplifies how the postmodern subject strives to escape all closed boundaries that limit their existential, cultural, or personal freedom. In this context, this article analytically examines the relationship between metafiction and claustrophobia in Paul Auster’s novel City of Glass. It highlights how language plays a major role in restricting people to linguistic realities that have no connection with other realms outside language. The intended purpose is to illustrate how humans have become claustrophobic in a postmodern culture that delegitimizes all major grand narratives or stories that once gave spiritual meaning to their lives.