What is Vonnegut's place in American literature?

He's among a small group of post-WWII American writers who fundamentally changed what the novel could do — alongside Joseph Heller (Catch-22), Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. His specific contribution: proving that comedy and serious moral inquiry could occupy the same sentence, that science fiction conventions could carry literary ambitions, and that the war novel didn't have to be heroic.

How did Vonnegut change the war novel?

By making war look absurd rather than tragic or heroic. Previous war novels (All Quiet on the Western Front, A Farewell to Arms) treat war as something that can be opposed seriously and mourned cleanly. Vonnegut treats it as something too stupid to mourn cleanly. The absurdism is the argument.

What is Vonnegut's specific influence on American satire?

He demonstrated that satire could be genuinely sad. Before Vonnegut, American literary satire tended toward the bitter (Sinclair Lewis) or the comic (Mark Twain). Vonnegut's satire is both simultaneously — the humor doesn't deflect the sadness; it makes it more bearable. This combination influenced everything from Catch-22 contemporaries to The Daily Show.

Which contemporary writers most reflect Vonnegut's influence?

George Saunders most directly — the moral seriousness inside absurdist/satirical fiction. Also: Chuck Palahniuk (dark moral underpinning beneath violence and comedy), Tom Perrotta (ordinary suburban absurdism), and many contemporary MFA fiction writers who believe in short sentences and moral stakes.

What does Vonnegut's legacy say about American culture?

That there has always been an audience for fiction that takes human beings seriously while laughing at them. The audience exists; the culture tries to pretend it doesn't. Vonnegut spent his career writing directly for that audience and proved it was large enough to matter.