Unholy “Saint Dave”: Critical Reception of David Foster Wallace’s Personality and Works. A Review

Abstract

The review examines the critical reception of David Foster Wallace’s personality and works. A particular attention is paid to the appreciation of David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) in foreign criticism as an intellectual, religious writerphilosopher and a martyr (“Saint Dave”), whose works require deep analysis, and as a writer whose popularity is the result of marketing manipulations and publisher’s work, which has nothing to do with his talent. According to some researchers, it was market specialists who created his iconic image as the most important American writer of the turn of the millennium, and his books are unlikely to become classics. Others consider him the author who caused a “revolution” in literature, being the first to oppose postmodernist ironic and cynical attitudes. The paper reviews books dedicated to Wallace's personality, his religious, ethical and philosophical views, as well as studies based on the archive of David Foster Wallace. Attention is also paid to Russian-language critical works, although it is largely based on the above-mentioned foreign criticism. It is concluded that to a large extent the difference in opinion is caused by the identification of the writer with the man, whose life was complicated by the struggle with addiction and depression, as well as by the analysis of his works based on his personality. It is emphasized that Wallace's works are important for contemporary literature, and they are to be studied objectively, without deifying / demonizing Wallace or elevating him to the ranks of suffering geniuses.

Keywords

• david foster wallace
• critical reception
• american prose of the xx–xxi centuries
• infinite jest
• postmodernism
• post-postmodernism
• new sincerity