"Now - here is my secret" : ritual and epiphany in Douglas Coupland's fiction.

Tate, Andrew W. (2002) "Now - here is my secret" : ritual and epiphany in Douglas Coupland's fiction. Literature and Theology, 16 (3). pp. 326-338. ISSN 0269-1205

Abstract

Although Douglas Coupland, the Canadian novelist, is celebrated as a modish interpreter of contemporary culture, his fiction has demonstrated an increasing interest in religious belief. These narratives, from Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991) to his most recent, Miss Wyoming (1999), feature covert images of conversion, baptism, and parable. The article will trace Coupland's critique of materialism and its relationship with aspects of both the Puritan and Transcendentalist traditions of North America. Particular focus will be given to the writer's use of epiphany as a structuring motif in two of his five novels, Generation X and Girlfriend in a Coma (1998), and one volume of short stories, Life After God (1994).