Minimalism from Art to Literature and a Minimalist Approach to Ann Beattie’s “The Rabbit Hole As Likely Explanation”

The term minimalism was first used in the political arena and was later attributed to art, including first painting and sculpture and then music and achitecture, and to literature (especially the short story). emerging as a reaction to abstract expressionism, minimalism gave way to new styles and suggested an alternative understanding to art as opposed to the mainstream one. minimalism aims to provide smallness and simplicity in both literature and art, employing lessening, reducing, and restraining techniques and distillation-concentration processes. the success of a minimalist work depends on its influence on the audience. this study aims to examine briefly the rise and development of minimalism, literary minimalism, and the common features found in minimalist works by analyzing “the rabbit hole as likely explanation” by ann beattie, one of the leading writers of literary minimalism, under the light of minimalism.