BotNS postmodern?

[Heck Tate]

I'm taking a philosophy class that deals largely with what the teacher calls modern literature, post-modern literature, and metafiction. By her definition, this essentially means stories that are mostly about the story itself (meaning there is no particular lesson to be learned by the end of the story), where the narrator breaks the third wall in telling the reader that it is a story, and references are made to past popular culture. What I am just starting for a project in that class is House of Leaves, but do you think Wolfe's Book of the New Sun would fit into any of these categories? I'm pretty sure that any philosophy teacher would be interested in them anyway, but for the limited understanding I have of modern and post-modern literature, this sounds like it might fit.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Severian breaks the third wall only in a very limited sense. The onus is on the reader to work out what is true and what isn't. But the motives behind this are due to Severian, not to Gene Wolfe.

 

[Kierkegaurdian]

I vaguely remember (but cannot specifically point to) moments where Severian admits that it is possible no one would ever read his memoirs. He doesn't seem to mind, and continues writing anyway. Does this impact whether or not BoNS is postmodern in this sense? I feel like BoNS is more a memoir than an explanatory text intended exclusively for the benefit of a specific audience. Also, this reminds me of what a good book House of Leaves was, I will have to reread it!