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Postmodernism and minimalism in

Raymond Carver′s Cathedral

Raymond Carver′s short story

Cathedral

can be considered a representative

of the Postmodernist current in the American literature of the 1980s; at the same

time, it meets some important traits of Minimalism, that is, the plot, the language

and even the characters are stripped-down to their most fundamental features.

Being a short story, it sticks to the main characteristic of such a genre -

briefness and concision - focusing on only one incident (in this case - the blind

man′s visit), having a single plot, a single setting (the narrator′s house), a limited

number of characters (three) and covering a short period of time (one evening).

From the very beginning of the story, the abrupt introduction into facts,

skipping the traditional exposition, is a minimalist sign:

THIS blind man, an old

friend of my wife′s, he was on his way to spend the night

(Carver 205). It is subtly

suggested an anterior narrative, though we are not given too many details about

this; the events are under an aura of mystery meant to stir the reader′s imagination

and to encourage him to forego a personal interpretation of the action, without any

directions from the author. "In Hassan′s terms, the narrative voice employs an

anti-style, [...] an

ordinary language

[that] paradoxically serves to distance the

narrating voice from its origins" (Trussler,

The narrowed voice: minimalism and

Raymond Carver

). That is, the author is no longer omniscient, but mute and barely

present; it does no longer exist the concept of a universal correct interpretation,

suggested by the author, but a series of personal interpretations that all readers are

free to make.

The technique used is the first person narrative:

my (wife)

[...]

I (wasn′t

enthusiastic)

(Carver 205), although sometimes it is quite ambiguous who this

I

is

­ the external narrator, or the internal character-narrator of the facts. This is also a