Hidden Gems
Unexpectedly Poetic Lines Easily Overlooked (?) in Infinite Jest’s Voluminous Flow
Abstract
Although readers are more likely to dwell upon particularly funny, surprising, or disturbing moments in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, the novel contains many instances of breathtaking poeticism. A close reading of a few such lines, hidden gems that could easily be overlooked in the voluminous flow of the novel, demonstrates the array of linguistic variables that Wallace skilfully manipulated to create iconic reminders that moments of beauty and pleasure can be found in the most mundane, ridiculous, and/or depressing of contexts.
Submitted: Sept. 12, 2021 | Accepted: Nov. 21, 2021 | Published March 16, 2022 | Language: en
Keywords Poetic language • Infinite Jest • Linguistic criticism • Stylistics • David Foster Wallace
Copyright © 2021 Mary Shapiro. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/EL/2420-823X/2021/08/001