"A Girl's Story" - David Arnason

“A Girl’s Story” by David Arnason is a classic example of a short piece of fiction that can be examined under the postmodern microscope. This school of literary criticism is generally defined as a rebellion against the rules of modernism. A postmodern author will tend to ignore the traditional constraints of structure, and form; in place using the power of imagination to formulate a text. Furthermore, postmodernism aptly blends the cultures and classes to create a barrier-free story that anyone can enjoy, and understand. This tendency is perhaps the most important aspect of postmodernism because it allows an author to create a message that most anyone can appreciate.

Arnason uses postmodernism as a vehicle to mock and stereotype the multiple opposing schools of criticism. Firstly, feminism is parodied throughout the text, most notably in the tenth paragraph: “I’m going to have trouble with the feminists about this story. . . . The feminists are going to say that I’m perpetuating stereotypes, that by giving the impression the girl is full of hidden passion I’m encouraging rapists” (Echoes 12, 229). Clearly, Arnason has criticized the feminist theory by explicitly stating that the movement over analyses a phrase’s meaning, and thus places an artificial connotation upon an otherwise satisfactory grouping of vowels. Also, during the reading of “A Girl’s Story” one can clearly pick out the “digs” against the reader response movement. This is evident in the sentence “I could do a lot more of that, but you wouldn’t like it” (228), in this case Arnason has satirized what the stereotypical reader will think of a part of the story. Thus, he makes a bold statement predicting what a reader will like or dislike in a story. Despite Arnason’s alleged hostility towards the literary theories of feminism and reader response, it would be quite reasonable to suggest that this bullying was all in good fun, and nothing more than a ploy to attract readers.

Additionally, the irony of the title “A Girl’s Story” adds to the comic tone of the story. While this title intuitively refers to a story of a female protagonist written by a female author it is quite obvious that this is far from true. Not only is the author a male, he seems to stereotype what a female would write and read in such a story. By doing so he creates almost an opposing environment to that expected of “a girl’s story.” While this is far from what would be traditionally appealing, perplexedly this surprise offers instead a story that ever more interesting and readable. This is mostly based on the fact that when a reader is made uncomfortable by reading something that is so far from the norm it actually makes a piece more alluring. This characteristic also quite fittingly is a facet of postmodernism. To conclude, the use of irony in this story not only fits that of the postmodern movement, it also counter-intuitively excites the reader.

In closing, Arnason’s use of parody and irony help create a postmodern short fictional prose that is not only enjoyable to read, but also somehow complex.