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CARDIFF SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: E-ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK

STUDENT NAME: Sammy Evans STUDENT NUMBER: st20006366

PROGRAMME: English and Contemporary Media YEAR/LEVEL: 3/6

GROUP: 2.3 TERM: 2/3

MODULE TITLE:

Modernism to Postmodernism

MODULE NUMBER:

HMX6007

MODULE LEADER: Jeff Wallace

NAME OF MARKER:

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE: 09 May 2014 HAND IN DATE: 09 May 2014

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: 002 Portfolio

Your portfolio focuses on the postmodernist texts studied inthe second term of the module, although it will build on yourknowledge of modernism too. You must choose one of thefollowing two options.

Either:

Option A:

A creative piece that is written in postmodernist style andform, or which introduces postmodern themes into a modernistwork (1,500 words).

Plus

A short critical commentary that frames your creative piece

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within the context of your understanding of postmodernism,and with reference to texts studied on the module (500words).

Or:

Option B ☑

A critical essay comparing and contrasting two postmodernisttexts (2,000 words), chosen from the following topics:

1. Discuss the notion of a ‘new depthlessness’ (Fredric Jameson) in any two postmodernist texts. ☑

2. ‘The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture’ (Roland Barthes). Discuss therelationship between author(ity) and text(uality) in any two postmodernist texts.

3. Discuss the narrative manipulation of time and space in atleast two postmodernist texts.

4. In what ways do postmodernist texts explore the question of what it is to be a) human and b) humanistic?

5. Discuss the instability of gendered/ethnic/cultural identities as a distinguishing feature of postmodernism in atleast two texts.

SECTION A: ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Assessment criteria for 002 Portfolio Option A

Criterion MarksKnowledge of keypostmodernist/modernistworks

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3

Understanding ofcritical debates aroundpostmodernism andmodernism

30

Creativity in theinterpretation ofpostmodernism

30

Precision of languageand expression;accuracy of referencingand presentation asspecified by the EnglishStyle Sheet and Cite ThemRight

20

Assessment criteria for 002 Portfolio Option B

Criterion MarksKnowledge of key postmodernist/modernist works

20

Understanding of critical debates around postmodernism and modernism, including useof reliable secondary material

30

Critical comparison of two postmodernist texts

30

Precision of language and expression; accuracyof referencing and presentation as specified by the English Style Sheet and Cite Them Right

20

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SECTION B: SELF ASSESSMENT (to be completed by student)

In relation to the set assessment criteria, please identify the areas in which you feel you have strengths and those in which you need to improve. Provide evidence to support your self assessment with reference to the content of your assignment.

STRENGTHS AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

- A variety of secondary criticism used

- A good grasp on the notion of the "new depthlessness"

- Sustained critical analysisof texts

- A selection of theorists/ theories used

- Good structure and concisely writtene

- Genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm for both texts

- Went over the word count and had to chop it down

- Possibly more textual analysis

- I wanted to discuss the techniques used in Pulp Fiction- Metanarratives, disjointed space and time, the McGuffin etc but I had to leavethem out as I could not fit them in and I felt sticking strictly to consumerism and high/ low culture was perhaps more important

- Perhaps more on postmodernismitself- more context/ background info

- The transgression from modernism to postmodernism perhaps could have been discussed

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SECTION C: TUTOR FEEDBACK

(based on assessment criteria, key skills and whereappropriate, reference to professional standards)

STRENGTHS AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND TARGETS FOR FUTURE ASSIGNMENTS

MARK AWARDED*: DATE:

MODERATED BY: DATE:

MODERATOR’S COMMENTS:

*All marks are provisional and subject to confirmation by theExamining Board

e-ASSIGNMENT COVERSHEET DECLARATION

STUDENT NAME: Sammy Evans STUDENT NUMBER: st20006366

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MODULE NUMBER: HMX6007

I certify that:

This assignment is my own work, based on my personal studyand/or research.

I have acknowledged all material and sources used in thepreparation of this assignment.

Neither the assignment, nor substantial parts of it, hasbeen previously submitted for assessment in this or anyother institution.

I have not copied in part, or in whole, or otherwiseplagiarised the work of other students.

(If this work is submitted as the work of one person) I havenot engaged in collusion in the completion of this piece ofwork

I have read and I understand the criteria used forassessment.

The use of any material in this assignment does not infringethe intellectual property/copyright of a third party.

I understand that this assignment may undergo electronicdetection for plagiarism, and a copy of the assignment may

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be retained on the database and used to make comparisonswith other assignments in future.

SIGNATURE: S. J. Evans DATE: 08 May 2014

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'New Depthlessness' in Nabokov's Lolita and Tarentino's PulpFiction

"Postmodernism, then, is depthless; it offers 'a new kind of superficiality in themost literal sense'. This lack of depth is perhaps postmodernisms 'supreme

formal feature' and is intimately connected with the 'waning of affect' inpostmodern culture"- Hans Bertens, 1995, p. 166

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'New Depthlessness' in Nabokov's Lolita and Tarentino's Pulp

Fiction

Although postmodernism- like modernism before it- is a

complicated term which may actually be several things at once,

many academics see postmodernism as "a sign of the times, as

emblematic of a cultural shift of epistemic proportions, that

new 'cultural logic'" in which postmodernism seems to both

embrace and criticise "the ever- increasing penetration of

capitalism into our day to day existence" (Bertens, H. 1995,

p. 10). Both Lolita (1955) and Pulp Fiction (1994) display a

fascination with American consumerist culture and its

depthlessness. Fredric Jameson (2003) noted that "In

postmodernist culture, 'culture' has become a product in its

own right [...] modernism was still minimally and tendentially

the critique of the commodity and the effort to make it

transcend itself. Postmodernism is the consumption of sheer

commodification as a process" (p. 10). Postmodernism is

thought to have begun at the end of the 1950s or early sixties

(Jameson, 2003, p. 21) as it seemed to mark "the end of

ideology, art, or social class", despite the term not being

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used until 1979 with the publication of Jean- Francois

Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition.

Written in 1955, Lolita was penned at the heart of emerging

postmodern culture and seems to be both a celebration and

critique of American materialism. Glimpses of Lo in new

clothes, rollerblading, riding along in the car or buying

souvenirs suggest that happiness is measurable by the

commodities that one possess. This is supported by Baudrillard

(1999) who stated, "Happiness [...] has to be a well- being

measurable in terms of objects and signs; It has to be

comfort" (p. 49). Humbert confesses that '[...] there would be

a loud hotel de luxe, or a pretentious dude ranch, to mutilate

our budget; staggering sums, moreover, were expended on

sightseeing and Lo's clothes [...]' (1993, p. 147) and yet

Humbert recognises that 'we had been everywhere, we had really

seen nothing' (p. 148). Here, Nabokov seems to be lending from

Sartre's Being and Nothingness (1943) in which he "defines two

types of reality which lie beyond our conscious experience:

the being of the object of consciousness and that of

consciousness itself" (Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy,

1995); Humbert sees the things around him, but he does not

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grasp them within a conscious experience. This seems to

suggest not only a depthlessness with which Humbert regards

American culture, but also a sameness. Still, Humbert appears

to appreciate the aestheticism of America, the 'inutile

loveliness' (p. 129) which the landscape presented; that

useless art that Oscar Wilde often spoke of. Whilst Humbert

appreciated the 'enchanting detail of landscape', Lo was

instead interested only in 'commercially beautiful' items,

such as a de luxe volume of Anderson's Little Mermaid, magazines

and novelties. This signifies that Lo only sees beauty in

'low' or mass culture and she is a prime example of the desire

that feeds capitalism.

Lo demonstrates Bertens' statement that "the primary function

of consumer objects is their sign function which is promoted

by so- called life style advertisements, television

commercials [...] and which persuades us to invest in them"

(1995, p. 146). Humbert notes, 'If a road sign said: VISIT OUR

GIFT SHOP- we had to buy it's Indian curos, dolls, copper

jewellery, cactus candy. The words 'novelties and souvenirs'

simply entranced her by their trochaic lilt' (p. 125) and 'If

some cafe sign proclaimed Ice- cold drinks, she was

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automatically stirred, although all drinks everywhere were

ice- cold' (p. 125). This suggests an indifference to the

objects themselves and instead indicates that Lo is enthralled

by the words and signs that shape them into an object of

desire. It also insinuates that anything can be translated

into an object of interest or desire. As Humbert observes, Lo

is 'to whom ads were dedicated: the ideal consumer, the

subject and object of every foul poster' (p. 125). Through his

study of semiotics during the twentieth century, Roland

Barthes frequently examined cultural materials such as

magazine covers, advertisements and packaging in order to

expose how bourgeois society asserted its values through them.

Lo's desire for material items and her obedience to the

commands of the signs reflect the power that the sign or

'signifier' holds. Furthermore, Lo is 'charmed by toilet

signs' and 'roadside facilities' (p. 129), exemplifying

Jameson's theory of the "waning of affect" which argued that

certain objects have no depth as there is nothing behind it to

decode the object: the surface and its meaning are essentially

the same. These superficial objects- window signs,

commercials, advertisements- stop us from experiencing

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anything authentically, illustrating both the depthlessness

and meaninglessness of postmodern consumer society.

The blurring of the distinction between the "'high' culture of

the elite and the 'low' culture of the masses has become

increasingly blurred over time" (2011) and was a common

discussion point of many postmodernist works. Despite being a

product of Europe, Humbert seems to have a fascination with

American culture. He "happen[s] to be allergic to Europe,

including merry old England [...] with the Old and rotting

World” (p. 78), yet he also attempts to impose European high

culture onto the American landscape, something that the

American's seemed to begrudge- Lo "furiously resented my

calling her attention to this or that enchanting detail of

landscape" (p. 128) and low cultured American's seem to find

it annoying, as a waitress asks Humbert, "but do you mind very

much cutting out the French? It annoys everybody" (p. 203). As

Lisa Zunshine suggests:

"The conflict of high and low cultures in the novel is

essentially a conflict of identities. Neither one or the other

wins, in the sense that one is destroyed to enable the other

to exist, but there is a sense that America, as representative

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of low culture, ultimately has the stamina and universal

appeal to eclipse the more precious and exclusive high culture

which Humbert Humbert represents"

Humbert emphasises every defining aspect of Lo's world in

order to convey the depthlessness of American consumerism. By

endlessly listing the material items that he buys her; roller

skates, a portable radio, new clothes, magazines etcetera,

Humbert seems to suggest that it is not only the objects that

are depthless, but also her life as the commodities that give

Lo joy are themselves hollow of actual fulfilment; they are

merely the result of a spontaneous purchase from which the

happiness they provide eventually diminishes.

Much like Lolita, Pulp Fiction is an interesting reflection of

American consumerist culture and its depthlessness. Although

"Pulp" is a homonym, critics have defined the word as "the

exemplary instance of mass culture's propensity to debase

everything and exalt the lowest common denominator"

(Lucamante, S. 2001, p. 16). This reflects the depthlessness

and true emptiness of commodification and consumption, as well

as the merging of high and low cultures. Much like Humbert's

existentialism in which he had been conscious but had not

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truly experienced anything around him, Los Angeles, the

setting of Pulp Fiction, is often referred to as the place that is

"everywhere and nowhere" (Lefebvre, H. 2003, p. 38). It

represents a transcendence of desire and power, the "dreamlike

vision of centrality accumulating wealth" (Lefebvre, 2003, p.

131) and yet thanks to global markets and multinational's,

this one spatial area is omnipresent and has the "universal

appeal" and the ability to "eclipse" high culture, as Zunshine

suggested. The commodification of Los Angeles emphasises

Jameson's theory of a "new depthlessness" (2003, p. 6) as

there appears to be little substance, only a glamorous

surface. Stanley Grenz (1996) stated that "people were

increasingly following the dictum: Think globally, act

locally" (p. 18). This can be seen in the merging of high and

low culture and the philosophical discussions surrounding

cultural differences in Pulp Fiction. In a discussion about food

and the metric system, Vincent tells Jules that a 'Quarter

Pounder with Cheese' is called a 'Royale with Cheese' in

Paris, and a 'Big Mac' is called 'Le Big Mac'. This

exemplifies Jameson's "aesthetic populism" (2003, p. 2) which

acknowledges the blurring of the distinction between high

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culture and mass or commercial culture. The French language is

essentially the 'high' culture, whilst the American fast food

is 'low'. As Saussure noted, "the French word mouton may have

the same meaning as the English word sheep; but it does not

have the same value [...]" (Chandler, D. 2013), exemplifying

the adoption of 'high' culture onto 'low' culture in order to

increase the value of the object or commodity. However, what

is most obvious in this scene is that the language does not

translate, despite the globalisation of the product: what is

American essentially stays American- a prime example of

imperialism- and what does translate into French is used to

make the low culture seem higher, exemplifying "the erosion of

the older distinction between high culture and so- called mass

or popular culture" (Malpas, S. 2001, p. 23). Furthermore, the

"depthlessness" which is embodied in Pulp Fiction is even evident

in the names of the characters. Various characters are

referred to with an epithet; "sugar pop", "jelly bean" and

"lemon pie" are all used in place of official names,

reflecting the ideologie that American name's "don't mean

shit" (Pulp Fiction, 1994).

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The abject is also used in relation to high culture, perhaps

highlighting the true depthlessness of it; Jules refers to

coffee as "serious gourmet shit" (note the use of another

French word to give the coffee a higher sense of value), once

again blurring high and low cultures. The abject is a

recurring motif throughout the film as the heist takes place

when Vincent is on the toilet and there is a struggle to

remove blood from Vincent, Jules and their car, signifying an

inability to purify themselves. Using the abject in relation

to consumerism (the coffee) suggests the inability to remove

ourselves from "the consumption of sheer commodification as a

process" (Bertens, 1995, p. 179). Furthermore, the gold watch

in the film is associated with waste, as it was kept in the

rectum of Butch's father for safekeeping. Although the watch

is a sentimental heirloom, the method of protection seems to

reflect the worthlessness of such commodities: In more literal

terms, it seems to be suggesting that the things we value are

equivalent to waste- they have no true value, only a surface

with no depth. In relation to this notion of waste matter,

Jules and Vincent have a discussion about "bum" culture (Pulp

Fiction, 1994). What Jules sees as "walk[ing] the Earth" as an

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act of God, Vincent views as "those pieces of shit out there

who beg for change [...] a fuckin' bum". In 'Hallelujah, I'm a

bum!' Peter Berger examines the different social groups that

essentially do not conform to society. These groups are the

people who choose to reject consumerist culture and instead

opt to live in what Berger calls "ideological anarchism" as

they “do not see themselves as belonging to any community […']

they experience institutions as centres of power and control

who do things to them, not for them or with them” (2013).

Similarly, Jules simply wants to "walk from town to town, meet

people, get in adventures" and be free from the oppressive

depthlessness of American consumer culture. In this

conversation of "bum" culture, Tarantino also once again

exemplifies the boundaries through which we view high and low

cultures. Although Jules is willing to become a "bum", he is

unwilling to eat pork as pigs are "filthy animals". Thus,

Jules essentially breaks the barriers of social dichotomy as

he chooses to live the life of 'low' culture, but also

embraces some ideologies of 'high' culture.

Postmodernism is a complicated term and is one that appears in

a broad range of disciplines- far more than this essay could

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discuss in depth. But as the above has hopefully proven, both

capitalism and the "collapse of cultural hierarchy's" (Woods,

T. 1999, p. 2) were (or perhaps are) a central part of

postmodern culture. Both Lolita and Pulp Fiction provide a riveting

critique of twentieth- century capitalism and consumer culture

and illustrate how for postmodern societies, there was only

surfaces without depth. Humbert frequently lists items that he

has bought Lo, and by doing so illustrates the mass

consumption that dominates the lives of its consumers and

exemplifies how "popular culture is inextricably linked to the

commodification of our lives, the commercial exploitation of

our leisure times, and the reliance upon a surplus income to

indulge these fabricated cultural desires" (Wood, T. 1999, p.

166). Furthermore, Humbert tries 'to give the impression of

'going places' (p. 128), yet they are presented with a

sameness that seems to be characteristic of America.

Additionally, Pulp Fiction demonstrates the blurring of high/ low

cultures through the use of French vocabulary, much like

Humbert, 'a brand- new American citizen of obscure European

origin' who tries to impose his 'high' culture on American

'low' culture. Pulp Fiction also uses the notion of the abject to

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convey the depthlessness of capitalism and consumer culture,

whilst Humbert uses Lo, "a disgustingly conventional little

girl" (p. 125) to illustrate the hollowness of it. Therefore,

both texts illustrate that "the opposition low/ high is

subverted and blurred by contemporary postmodern culture" (p.

167). Ultimately, both Lolita and Pulp Fiction effectively

illustrate Jameson's theory of a "new depthlessness" through

their satire of postmodern capitalism and consumption which

had become "a fundamental mutilation in the ecology of the

human species" (Bertens, 1995, p. 147).

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Bibliography

Barry, P. (2002) Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural

Theory, 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press

Baudrillard, J. (1999) The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures,

London: SAGE Publications Inc

Berger, P. (2013) 'Hallelujah! I'm A Bum!' The American Interest,

30 January [Online] Available at: http://www.the-american-

interest.com/berger/2013/01/30/hallelujah-im-a-bum/ (Accessed:

06 May 2014)

Bertens, H. (1996) The Idea of the Postmodern, London: Routledge

Chandler, D. (2013) 'Semiotics for Beginners' [Online]

Available at:

http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/Documents/S4B/sem02.html

(Accessed: 05 May 2014)

Grenz, S. (1996) A Primer on Postmodernism, Michigan: Eerdmans

Publishing Co.

Habib, M. (2008) A History of Literary Criticism and Theory: From Plato to the

Present [Google eBook] United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing

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Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (1995) 'Jean Paul Sartre:

Existentialism' [Online] Available at:

http://www.iep.utm.edu/sartre-ex/ (Accessed: 07 May 2014)

Jameson, F. (1999) The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern,

1983- 1998, London: New Left Books

Jameson, F. (2003) Postmodernism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,

United States of America: Duke University Press

Lefebvre, H. (2003 [1970) The Urban Revolution, United States:

University of Minnesota Press

Lucamante, S. (2001) Italian Pulp Fiction: The New Narrative of the Giovani

Cannibali Writers [Google eBook] Massachusetts: Rosemont

Publishing & Printing Corp.

Malpas, S. (2001) Postmodern Debates, Hampshire: Palgrave

Macmillan

Woods, T. (1999) Beginning Postmodernism, United Kingdom:

Manchester University Press

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