Deciphering Hanya Yanagihara’s To Paradise as a postmodern text

Abstract

To Paradise (2022) by Hanya Yanagihara takes the readers into a thrilling adventure in an alternate history of the American map of 1893, a semi-present representation of 1993 and a dystopian future of 2093. With class and social order restrictions, the characters battle the effect of realities to keep their loved ones safe. With a multi-narrative outlook and postmodern traits, the author highlights a perception of loss, friendship, despair and desire. She normalises the effect of same-sex marriage and questions the political spheres and historical otherness prevalent in America. It simultaneously asks what could have been, what is and what could be. This thesis aims to represent this fin de siècle novel’s literary effect on emotional reactions towards race, social order, and dystopian effects of diseases and loss. It also discusses the open-ended narratives to understand how the definition of “paradise” is a political paradigm that characters have to chase. Additionally, this study evaluates the misinterpreted notion of postmodernism and its relation to representing history and scientific resolutions.