Postmodernisation of Greek mythology in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to identify and critically analyze the postmodern elements in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and explore how the author portrayed mythology in the modern-day setting. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an action-adventure fiction targeted at young adult audiences. The story revolves around the protagonist in a twenty-first-century story setting and his journey to the world influenced by Greek mythology. The study will consider the five-book series as a single story. The first part of this thesis will analyze theories of postmodern aspects related to this study including pastiche, intertextuality, magical realism and historiographic metafiction. The next chapter will present a summary of the books and examine how they retell the mythical legends to young adult audiences while identifying the postmodern elements in this fiction. The third chapter will include a full examination and presentation of the book’s discussion and supporting material on the subject. The study will demonstrate how mythology regains importance in postmodern fiction, as well as how the author modified Greek stories for modern audiences and breathed fresh life into them.