FRAGMENTATION OF CHRONOTOPE IN THE POSTMODERN NOVEL AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF THE “PATCHWORK” SPACE-TIME AESTHETICS

Abstract

This thesis investigates how postmodern fiction fragments the Bakhtinian chronotope and the psychological effects of a patchwork space-time on readers’ cognition and affect. Building on theories of postmodernism and cognitive narratology, the study argues that spatiotemporal discontinuity functions not merely as a stylistic hallmark but as a deliberate apparatus that recalibrates attention, memory, and inference-making. Through close reading of representative postmodern novels and theoretical synthesis, the paper shows that montage-like juxtaposition, palimpsestic layering of locales, and recursive temporal loops produce controlled disorientation that prompts metacognitive monitoring, schema revision, and heightened self-reflexivity. Such texts simulate a mediated world saturated with heterogenous “times” and “places,” modeling life under cultural conditions of acceleration and pluralized realities. The conclusion frames patchwork chronotopes as laboratories for testing the limits of narrative coherence and as pedagogical devices that cultivate readers’ tolerance for ambiguity and skill in navigating discontinuous information ecologies.