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Julian Barnesmost celebrated Flauberts Parrot is generally hailed as an epitomeof postmodernist fiction that brims with formal innovation.Barnes himself,however,argues that the novel starts with life.He claims that he never sees himself as an emptytechnician.This thesis explores some of the implications of Barnesself-characterization and examines the ways in which Barnes expresses his concernfor life and reality in Flauberts Parrot.Bringing the notion of reality in thepostmodern context under investigation,Flauberts Parrot shows the narratorpursuing the historical reality of Flaubert on the one hand,searching for the reality ofhis personal life on the other hand.In so doing,the novel portrays a postmodern manwho finds himself in a situation where there is not an easy answer.Extending beyondtraditional mimesis,Barnes depicts the dilemma of human beings when confrontingrealities in the postmodern era in Flauberts Parrot. This thesis consists of four parts. Part One introduces the reception of BarnesFlauberts Parrot,in relation to thechanging perceptions of the relationship between the novel and reality when fictionwriting developed from Realism to Postmodernism. Part Two investigates the ways in which the self-conscious narrator engages in hisfrustrated chasing of the historical reality of Flaubert and the parrot Flaubert onceused as a model when writing A Simple Heart and his various attempts to construct aninnovative biography of Flaubert. Part Three examines the ways in which the narrator tries to make sense of his life.Not an "autonomous source of meaning" the narrator has much difficulty giving anaccount of his personal reality because he could not understand his relationship withhis unfaithful wife or his wifes suicide. Part Four is a conclusion in which I argue that in Flauberts Parrot Barnesportrays the dilemma of human beings who,in the postmodernist era,while aware ofthe constructedness and uncertainty of reality,history and truth,still do not want tolose the assurance of reliable reality.I believe that shining through the narratorspursuit of the real is Barnesstrong concern for life and reality.Barneshumane andliberal spirit combines with his formal awareness to distinguish him as one of themost uniquely humanistic contemporary British writers.