Time as a Form of Temporal Distortion: A Postmodern Study of Robert Coover's The Babysitter

Abstract

The study examines a tendency in Robert Coover’s the Babysitter, which is the conception of time as a form of temporal distortion. Temporal distortion is a phenomenon of time mainly appearing as a visual phenomenon characterized by a disruption of time sense and consciousness. Postmodern fiction commonly employs temporal distortion as a technique, with the intention of satire or sarcasm. The author usually focuses on the idea of time in which he/she leaps from past to present or the opposite or there might be mentions of history and culture that do not fit the era of the literary work. Temporal distortion is also employed to question reality by calling into question the social and cultural conceptions of time. The present paper aims at studying the approach of time in Coover's The Babysitter, which draws particular attention to the idea of shifting in time. Both reasonable and opposed events happen at the same time, and none of them is preferred over the other in giving actions. All forms of time are intertwined; therefore, its influence on the author's extraordinary writing style is reflected in his story.