Talk:Donald Barthelme

Pronunciation
How is Barthelme's name pronounced? - Cobra libre 23:43, July 25, 2005 (UTC) It's a mystery. Ask his brothers, Fredrick and Steven, both of whom teach at Southern Mississippi University. Maybe they know something. Kim Herzinger also teaches there and probably knows.

- I have always prounced it "Barth - el - may" but one english teacher of mine prounounced it "Bart - el - may" Guess that doesn't help too much, but it aught to be one of those two.

- In fact, nothing so exotic. It is pronounced bar-thelm, the syllables equally stressed.

- *It is prounced "Barth - el - me." *THIS IS THE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION

I read that Barthelme never told anyone how to pronunce his name, he just let them say it however they pleased.

- He was my father's cousin and we say Barth-el-me

- when I pronounce it, I always tend to say Barth-Al-Me... maybe it's like that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.10.18 (talk) 21:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

- Funny, I've always pronounced it Barth-Elm, not pronouncing the last e, and nobody's corrected me, so the idea of other pronounciations have never really occurred to me. --75.157.161.226 (talk) 07:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

- One of my former students worked with his daughter. At my request, the student confirmed with her that the correct pronunciation is indeed: Bart - el - may. Further, it is pronounced this way in an interview with Barthelme here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjokr7W1ixk - I fully expect the interviewer to ensure correct pronunciation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6011:F906:3007:998:9ED:97E1:C990 (talk) 13:53, 9 April 2021 (UTC)

Awkward Sentence
"Having essentially an existential outlook, Barthelme looked hard at life and found much wanting, thus developing a sad, satiric outlook."

Essentially and existential are funny together and there two "outlooks" in this sentence. And Barthelme's "sad, satiric, existential outlook" should probably be backed up with a citation. Jordansc 04:03, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Someone used the Article as a Talk Page
So I deleted it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.172.245.58 (talk) 17:52, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
 * kudos! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.15.170.229 (talk) 03:51, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Certain parallels
...have been drawn with Franz Kafka" ?? This sounds like a line from one of his (Barthelme's) stories. It makes you think, but I'd sure like to know what those parallels are. Wouldn't you? maxsch 05:08, 19 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I removed the following line from style and legacy "Certain parallels have been drawn with Franz Kafka." I would love for it to stay, but there is no reference, no explanation of what those parallels are, and it was sort of a non-sequitor. Please someone make it a little more concrete and put it back in the article. maxsch 19:31, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Kenneth, What's the Frequency
From the Dan Rather wikipedia entry: In the December 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, writer Paul Limbert Allman concluded that Professor Donald Barthelme (who died in 1989) had somehow orchestrated the attack through other unnamed persons, citing unusual passages in Barthelme's writing, including the phrase "What is the frequency?", a recurring character named Kenneth, and a short story about a pompous editor named Lather.[22] The article was adapted into two plays, both entitled "Kenneth, What is the Frequency?" The first was by Ian Allen and Monique LaForce and debuted in Washington, D.C., in 2003.[23] The second, written by Allman himself, premiered in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2004[24].

Surely this deserves inclusion ? 203.27.72.3 07:00, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I would say it does. We need a source that confirms this. Then we add it. Bulbous (talk) 03:34, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * It is an interesting article, and perhaps Barthelme did have a part in the attack on Rather. That's pure speculation: perhaps it was a coincidence, or the assailant(s) read Barthelme and acted independently.  Or perhaps Rather had always felt guilty in the literary eyes of Barthelme, and subconsciously substituted Barthelme's phrases upon being attacked.  Or Barthelme, Rather, and the attackers were all members of some larger secret society in which "Kenneth, what is the frequency" has some secret meaning.


 * The point being: I'm not sure it is worthy to include this sort of speculation (however interesting) in an encyclopedia. Perhaps it would merit inclusion if the Harper's article was a turning point in Barthelme's life, or if Barthelme was well know because of the article.  But he was already famous and dead when the article came out, so neither of those are the case.  Clearly, I'd vote to remove this section.  For now, I'll just change the title to match the Dan Rather article.Kjsharke (talk) 17:26, 8 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" section is mere speculation, and speculation of a rather humorous kind, I would have thought. It makes absolutely no sense for this section to be twice the length of the section dedicated to Barthelme's personal life, given that this entry is entitled "Donald Barthelme", not "Paul Limbert Allman's quirky CV". --Oulipal (talk) 09:12, 23 December 2012 (UTC)

Vague artistic influence
I've been looking for information about Barthelme's clearly surrealist style and whether or not that was directly influenced by the big "S" Surrealists (as in Andre Breton and the like), and not just people whose style is surreal like Beckett and Kafka. That's why I found this particular phrase interesting: "Barthelme was also quite interested in and influenced by a number of contemporary artists." Can anybody expand on that or point me in a good direction so that I could expand on that? The Surrealists weren't contemporaries, of course, but I'm very curious about who these "contemporary artists" are -- I'm wondering if there's at least an indirect link there.F. Simon Grant (talk) 16:36, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Copyright problem
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