Postmodern Literature Postmodern describes certain characteristics of post-World War II literature. It heavily relies on fragmentation, paradox, questionable narrators, etc. Irony, black humor, and the general concept of “play are the most recogni!able characteristics of postmodern literature. "umerous novelists labeled postmodern #ere first collectively labeled black humorists. Postmodern literature represents a break from $%th century realism, in #hich a story #as told from an ob&ective or omniscient point of vie#. In character development postmodern literature explores sub&ectivism, turning from external reality to examine inner states of consciousness. In addition, postmodern literature explores fragmentariness in narrative- and character-construction. 'he focus in the study of postmodern literature is on intertextuality( the relationship bet#een one text and another. 'his is an indication of postmodernism)s lack of originality ori ginality and reliance on clich*s. Intertextuality in postmodern literature can refer to or parallel another literary #ork, an extended discussion of a #ork, #or k, or the adoption of a style. In postmodern literature this commonly sho#s up as references to fairy tales or in references to popular genres such as sci-fi and detective fiction. +ttributes in postmodern literature are author is a character, blurs reality and fiction, comments on its o#n bookishness, plays #ith language, and disruptsplays #ith form.
Themes and Techniques Irony, playfulness, and black humor became trademarks for most most postmodern authors. Postmodern authors often choose very serious sub&ects, like #ars and conspiracy theories, and depict their histories ironically and humorously. any postmodern used pastiche, #hich is to combine elements of other genres and styles of literature to create a ne# narrative voice. Popular elements are detective fiction, science fiction, and #ar fiction, songs, pop culture references, and #ell-kno#n, obscure, and fictional h istory. +n important element of postmodern literature is intertextuality. Intertextuality is the ackno#ledgement of previous literary #orks in a story. any postmodern authors feature metafiction in their #riting, #hich is #riting about #riting. 'his is an attempt to make make the reader a#are of its ficitionality, and the presence of the author. ome postmodernists use temporal distortion, #hich is the use of a non-linear timeline. 'his is #here the author &umps either back in time or fo#ard through time. any postmodern authors use paranoia in their novels. n ovels. 'hought process heavily influenced by anxiety and fear i s Paranoia. Paranoid thinking includes persecutory beliefs because the person believes they are in danger or is threatend by something or someone.
means, means, 'after the modern modern'.'. It was a reacti reaction on to modernis modernism m and was infl influe uenc nced ed by the the dise disenc ncha hant ntme ment nt brou brough ghtt abou aboutt by the the Seco Second nd World orld War. ar. Postmodernism refers to the state that lacks a central hierarchy and one that is complex, ambiguous and diverse. he developments in society, the economy and the culture of the !"#$s were impacted by postmodernism.
Postmodernism
Modernism
Vs.
Postmodernism
%odernism began in the !&"$s and lasted till about !"(. Postmodernism began after the Second World War, especially after !"#&. %odernism was based on using rational, logical means to gain knowledge while postmodernism denied the application of logical thinking. )ather, the thinking during the postmodern era was based on unscientific, irrational thought process, as a reaction to modernism. * hierarchical and organi+ed and determinate nature of knowledge characteri+ed modernism. ut postmodernism was based on an anarchical, non-totali+ed and indeterminate state of knowledge. %odernist approach was obective, theoretical and analytical while the postmodernism approach was based on subectivity. It lacked the analytical nature and thoughts were rhetorical and completely based on belief. he fundamental difference between modernism and postmodernism is that modernist thinking is about the search of an abstract truth of life while postmodernist thinkers believe that there is no universal truth, abstract or otherwise. %odernism attempts to construct a coherent world-view whereas postmodernism attempts to remove the difference between high and low. %odernist thinking asserts that mankind progresses by using science and reason while postmodernist thinking believes that progress is the only way to ustify the /uropean domination on culture. %odernist thinking believes in learning from past experiences and trusts the texts that narrate the past. 0n the other hand postmodernist thinking defies any truth in the text narrating the past and renders it of no use in the present times. %odernist historians have a faith in depth. hey believe in going deep into a subect to fully analy+e it. his is not the case with postmodernist thinkers. hey believe in going by the superficial appearances, they believe in playing on surfaces and show no concern towards the depth of subects. %odernism considers the original works as authentic while postmodernist thinkers base their views on hyper-reality1 they get highly influenced by things propagated through media. 2uring the modernist era, art and literary works were considered as uni3ue creations of the artists. People were serious about the purpose of producing art and literary works. hese works were believed to bear a deep meaning, novels and books predominated society. 2uring the postmodernist era, with the onset of computers, media and advancements in technology, television and computers became dominant in society. *rt and literary works began to be copied and preserved by the means of digital media. People no longer believed in art and literary works bearing one uni3ue meaning1 they rather believed in deriving their own meanings from pieces of art and literature. Interactive media and Internet led to distribution of knowledge. %usic like %o+art, eethoven, which was appreciated during modernism became less popular in the postmodern era. World music, 2s and remixes characteri+ed postmodernism. he architectural forms that were popular during modernism were replaced by a mix of different architectural styles in the postmodern times. * relatively slow paced life that was driven by grounded principles became fast paced and lost its calm
Modernism vs. Postmodernism
he term 4Postmodern4 begins to make sense if you understand what 4%odernism4 refers to. In this case, 4%odernism4 usually refers to 5eo6lassical, /nlightenment assumptions concerning the role reason, or rationality, or scientific reasoning, play in guiding our understanding of the human condition and, in extreme cases of Postmodern theory, nature itself. Postmodernism basically challenges those basic assumptions.
Modernism (or Enlightenment Humanism) Existence of stable, coherent “self”, independent of culture and society.
Postmodernism
The “self” is a myth and largely a composite of one’s social experiences and cultural contexts. The "self" is an Ideology. Reason and science proide Reason and science are Ideologies in accurate, ob!ectie, reliable the $arxist sense% myths created by foundation of “no#ledge” man. Reason transcends and exists There is no uniersal, ob!ectie independently of our existential, means of !udging any gien concept historical, cultural contexts% it is as “true”% &'' !udgments of truth uniersal and “true”. exist #ithin a cultural context (cultural relatiism). Reason and human The application of pure Reason independence*freedom are (predicated +artesian Radical inherently lined% !ust la#s epticism) disproes the uniersal conform to the dictates of nature of a priori human freedom. Reason. We hold these truths to be Independence*-reedom are estern self evident… Ideologies used to coloni/e foreign cultures (ie 0elgian +ongo, 1iet 2am, Ira3, &fghanistan) 0ecause it is uniersal, Reason can Reason is no more uniersal than is help us oercome all con4icts. any other culture’s de5nition of “truth”. cience is the paradigm of all true cience is Ideology. no#ledge.
'anguage is transparent% a one to one relationship bet#een signi5er (#ord) and signi5ed (thing or concept).
'anguage is 4uid and arbitrary and*or rooted in 6o#er*7no#ledge relations. $eaning is 4uid and arbitrary. $eaning is “messy”.
Reason #ill lead to uniersal truths all cultures #ill embrace.
“8no eternal truths, no uniersal human experience, no uniersal human rights, oerriding narratie of human progress” (-aigley, 9). In sum: Truth may exist independent of human consciousness but there is no ob!ectie means of nailing it do#n.
In sum: Truth exists independent of human consciousness and can be no#n thru the application of Reason. &ll Enlightenment conclusions lead from this assumption. +onnotations: The application of Reason leads to a progressive moement to#ard ciili/ation, democracy, freedom, scienti5c adancement.
&ll 6ostmodern conclusions lead from this assumption. +onnotations: There is no ob!ectie means upon #hich to predicate morality and right*!ust goernance.
6ostmodern theory is descriptive of the human condition% it describes The Enlightenment is prescriptive: a an impasse in philosophy and social means of building a be;er society. relations. $odernist -eminism: omen are 6ostmodern -eminism: The oppressed by patriarchy and can categories male*female, use Reason to achiee both masculine*feminine are themseles independence and regain their culturally constructed and*or “authentic seles”. Ideology. s Fragments Of Rationality
Modernism vs Postmodernism --he features in the table below are only tendencies, not absolutes. In fact, the tendency to see things in seemingly obvious, binary, contrasting categories is usually associated with modernism. he tendency to
dissolve binary categories and expose their arbitrary cultural co-dependency is associated with postmodernism.
Modernism/Modernity
Postmodern/Postmodernity
Suspicion and reection of %aster %aster 5arratives and %etanarratives of 5arratives1 local narratives, ironic history, culture and national identity1 myths deconstruction of master narratives7 of cultural and ethnic orgin. counter-myths of origin. 8aith in 49rand heory4 :totali+ing explantions in history, science and culture; to represent all knowledge and explain everything.
)eection of totali+ing theories1 pursuit of locali+ing and contingent theories.
8aith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic
Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social
%aster narrative of progress through science and technology.
Skepticism of progress, anti-technology reactions, neo-=uddism1 new age religions.
Sense of unified, centered self1 4individualism,4 unified identity.
Sense of fragmentation and decentered self1 multiple, conflicting identities.
Idea of 4the family4 as central unit of social *lternative family units, alternatives to order7 model of the middle-class, nuclear middle-class marriage model, multiple family. identities for couplings and childraising. >ierarchy, order, centrali+ed control.
Subverted order, loss of centrali+ed control, fragmentation.
8aith and personal investment in big politics :5ation-State, party;.
rust and investment in micropolitics, identity politics, local politics, institutional power struggles.
)oot<2epth tropes. 8aith in 42epth4 :meaning, value, content, the signified; over 4Surface4 :appearances, the superficial, the signifier;.
)hi+ome
2ichotomy of high and low culture :official vs. popular culture;1 imposed consensus that high or official culture is normative and authoritative
2isruption of the dominance of high culture by popular culture1 mixing of popular and high cultures, new valuation of pop culture, hybrid cultural forms cancel 4high4<4low4 categories.
%ass culture, mass consumption, mass marketing.
2emassified culture1 niche products and marketing, smaller group identities.
?nowledge mastery, attempts to embrace a 5avigation, information management, usttotality. in-time knowledge. he encyclopedia. he Web. 6entering
2ispersal, dissemination, networked, distributed knowledge
2eterminancy
Indeterminancy, contingency.
Seriousness of intention and purpose, middle-class earnestness.
Play, irony, challenge to official seriousness, subversion of earnestness.
Sense of clear generic boundaries and wholeness :art, music, and literature;.
>ybridity, promiscuous genres, recombinant culture, intertextuality, pastiche.
6lear dichotomy between organic and inorganic, human and machine
cyborgian mixing of organic and inorganic, human and machine and electronic
Phallic ordering of sexual difference, androgyny, 3ueer sexual identities, unified sexualities, exclusion
