History, Art and Consumerism— Richard Powers’ Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance

Abstract

Abstract This article analyzes three narrative lines as depicted in Richard Powers’ Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance (1985) and the way his depiction of real, photographed, present and past characters along with a narrative reference to a photograph create a metafictional and intertextual frameworks through the use of which Powers symbolically points out a sensibility of the late 20th century and its difference from early 20th century related to the vision of the world, understanding of reality, art, and history. In addition, the article emphasizes Powers’ use of postmodern allegory and the way it creates another meaning which points out a commercial and consumerist character of the 20th century and which also symbolically represents a history of technical and artistic depiction of the world.