---

Fictional narratives of the late twentieth century often cross boundaries. This study argues that the undoing of structure in postmodern art form demands a different way of thinking and represents a commentary on the material and social conditions of the late twentieth century and beyond.

---

Introduction: A Tale of Competing Critical Narratives 1. The Move Beyond Form in Context 2. Transforming Space over Time: The Visual Arts 3. Musical Interplay: Tan Dun´s The Map and other Examples 4. Refusing Self-Containment: Coetzee´s Diary of a Bad Year 5. Dissolving Boundaries, Exposing Webs 6. Echoing Spaces Beyond the Boundaries 7. Hybrid Zones in the Mirror Arcade: The Receding Real 8. Traversing Medial Spaces Beyond the Ending 9. ReMaking

---

´A sophisticated and engaging work that makes a significant contribution to the field of contemporary aesthetics and critical theory.´ - Christopher A. Dustin, Professor of Philosophy, College of the Holy Cross

´In this book Mary-Joe Hughes shows how our post-sixties culture bears witness to a dramatic dissolution of boundaries between form and content, author and reader, text and world. Challenging the postmodern cult of Theory the author lets works of art - music, film, painting and literature - speak for themselves, while remaining critically conversant with the philosophies of Derrida and Levinas. The book makes a powerful plea for creative interconnection over cynical conflation, for inventive hybridity over consumerist confusion, citing contemporary works from Coetzee and Calvino to Peter Weir and Yo-Yo Ma. The author convinces by a combination of intellectual audacity, critical integrity and deep imagination.´ - Richard Kearney, Charles Seelig Chair of Philosophy, Boston College

---

Mary Jo Hughes is the assistant director of the Arts and Sciences Honors Program at Boston College.

---