Perspectives

Literary period

Published in 2016, the short story  “The Sea in Me” by Krishan Coupland fits the literary movement we call Postmodernism, which defines a lot of literature published since the 1960s. Postmodernist works can be recognised through themes, context, and narrative techniques. In “The Sea in Me” by Krishan Coupland, we notice that the author explores the theme of not fitting in. This theme is often explored in postmodern works, as they often focus on exploring how people are influenced and shaped by their circumstances.

In terms of postmodernist narrative techniques, “The Sea in Me” uses fragmentation (the events are not strictly chronological)and focuses on the description of the events, but does not express a clear message or draw a conclusion.

Coupland creates a story in which the deeper meaning of the events is implied and never explicitly stated, and therefore, the readers must observe the characters to understand more about them and their circum...