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Rebels, Conspirators, and Parrots, Oh My!: Lacanian Paranoia and Obsession in Three Postmodern Novels

ABSTRACT Three postmodern novels—Pale Fire, The Crying of Lot 49, and Flaubert's Parrot—are discussed in relation to Lacan's work on the nature of paranoia to claim that paranoia and obsession can be seen to play positive roles in helping the novels' protagonists acclimate to, and even develop and maintain identity in, a chaotic postmodern world. The argument is made that these literary, not clinical, psychological responses serve to ameliorate the protagonists' overall psychological condition and to enhance their sense of identity. Ultimately, they arrive at, if not resolution, then varying degrees of accommodation with that postmodern world.