Contemporary Surfiction: Wideman, Kaufman, and Maddin
Contemporary Surfiction: Wideman, Kaufman, and Maddin

Summary/Abstract: The term “Surfiction” is usually associated with the writings of a small group of Vietnam War-era writers, including Raymond Federman, Ron Sukenick, Steve Katz, Clarence Major, and Gilbert Sorrentino, but it is actually applicable to a wider variety of pseudo-autobiographical short stories, novels, and even films. This article suggests three definitive criteria for considering a work surfictional — the centrality of the author’s own experiences, ambiguity of autobiographical fact and fabrication, and eventual cancellation of dramatized scenes — and explores these features in John Edgar Wideman’s tribute story “Surfiction” and the contemporary films Adaptation. by Charlie Kaufman and Brand Upon The Brain! by Guy Maddin.

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