The Promise of Certainty

Abstract

This paper is based on the hypothesis that the problems of our age are not only present in the topic of contemporary novels, but they also have an effect on their structure. In the first part of the study I demonstrate how Neil Gaiman´s novel, the American Gods reflects upon the postmodern condition. I will also present how it influences the characters, the structure or the motives. After that I will discover the competencies we need to become Model Readers, not just Empirical Readers. These concepts were introduced in Umberto Eco´s Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, where he shows how close reading of literary texts helps us to get a more comprehensive understanding of fiction. In the second part of the essay I present some examples how we can use this knowledge in everyday life. I will provide evidence that the competencies acquired during the correct interpretation of a novel can help us to realise how our knowledge is exposed to cultural context that we live in. The last part of the study points out one of the basic functions of literature, according to which we can explain and interpret the world through fiction, since fictional stories help us to identify patterns in everyday chaos that surrounds us.