Literary Piracy and the Art of Experimental Narratives

Abstract

A pirate is a ship-raider who abides by no rules. The pirate roams the tides of the ocean exploring new territories. An experimental writer is a literary pirate who explores new
textual territories and toys with literary canons. The literary pirate abides by no generic laws and inscribes rebellion in the pages of his fiction. Classicists even label them as
“literary outlaws”. In normative piracy, stealing, killing, destroying and ravaging are absolutely allowed. In experimental fiction, plots are either spiral, cyclic or non-existent.
Characters are either strange humans or mutant creatures mirroring internal and external struggles with their worlds. Ever since the Second World War, American writers have
pledged the oath of piracy and created a fiction that transcends reality. To reflect their apparent antagonism to the laws of the canons, literary genres are often introduced by the
prefix “anti” such as anti-detective and anti-romance. To delineate their own code of superiority over tradition, the prefix “meta” becomes attached to historiographicmetafiction and “post” is added to post-apocalyptic fiction. Science fiction, graphic novels, psychedelic fiction are only a tip of the iceberg when it comes to enumerating how literary
piracy eviscerated the laws of time, space, death, religion, morality and consciousness. Drawing on Jean François Lyotard„s contention that postmodernity is “the
incredulity towards grand-narratives”, this chapter shall examine how the rise of new literary genres in postmodern literature is a form of literary piracy. American Psycho
(1991), One Flew over the Cuckoo‟s Nest (1962) and Naked Lunch (1959) are three case studies that epitomize piracy in its many folds. Accordingly, this article shall explore the
different generic transgressions from psychedelic, to anti-detective to postmodern gothic experimentations. It will equally explore how literary piracy transgresses the boundaries of
reception through tackling controversial themes ranging from madness, to homosexuality to substance abuse. This essay shall culminate on tracing the parallels between actual
piracy and its cultural inscription in these novels. Naturally, as actual piracy is criminalized, literary piracy is deemed as scandalous, inacceptable and highly controversial.
Whether sailing across the tides of the endless sea or writing the pages of timeless novels, breaking free from the confinement of mould and tradition renders freedom irresistibly
outlawed.