102737668 Modernism Postmodernism

7/27/2019 102737668 Modernism Postmodernism

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MODERNISM

• Using rational, scientific, logicalmeans to know the world. Optimism

that we can understand and controlan objective world

POSTMODERNISM

• A reaction against rationalism,scientism, or objectivity of

modernism.

• There is an absolute, universal truth

that we can understand throughrationalism and logic.

• There is no universal truth.

Rationality by itself does not helpus truly understand the world.

• Humans are material machines. Welive in a purely physical world.

Nothing exists beyond what our

senses perceive.

• Suspicious of such dogmatic claimsto knowledge.

• Humankind is progressing by usingscience and reason.

• "Progress" is a way to justify thedomination by European culture of

other cultures.

•

Time, history, progress•

Culture on Fast Forward: Time andhistory replaced by speed,

futureness, acceleratedobsolescence.

• history as a "narrative of what

happened" with a point of view andcultural/ideological interests.

• Postmodern historians and

philosophers question therepresentation of history and

cultural identities: history as "what'really' happened" is from one

group's point of view

• Faith in "Depth" (meaning, value,

content, how things work) over

"Surface" (appearances, thesuperficial, how we use things).

• Attention to play of surfaces,

images, things mean what we

make them mean, no concern for"depth" but with how things look

and respond

• "disenchantment with material truthand search for abstract truth."

• "There is no universal truth,abstract or otherwise."

• Faith in the "real" beyond media and

representations; authenticity of "originals"

• Hyper-reality, image saturation,

simulacra seem more powerful thanthe "real"; images and texts with

no prior "original"."As seen on TV" and "as seen on

MTV" are more powerful thanunmediated experience.

TIME LINE

• (Renaissance?) Enlightenment >1750s > 1890-1945.

• Post WWII, especially after 1968

GENERAL

http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/postmod/table.htm

http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/postmod/table.htm



• Attempt to acheive a unified,coherent world-view from the

fragmentation that defines existence

• Attempt to overturn the distinction

between "high" and "low" culture

• High Modernism 1920s & 1930s,following WWI -- outmoded political

orders and old ways of portraying theworld no longer seemed appropriate

or applicable; reaction againstexisting order

• Eclecticism, a tendency towardparody and self-reference, and a

relativism that knows no ultimatetruth; no distinctions between

"good" and "bad"

• Classification of the world; order;

hierarchy

• The way we understand the world

is relative; it depends on ourculture, position, class, gender,

age, time period, beliefs, etc.

• Mastery and progress Historicaldevelopment; past affects present

and future. Universalizing Linear (likea novel) Works of art, science are

windows to the truth.

• "Localizing", pluralizing Non-linear(like the Web) Works of art, science

are only texts, can only beunderstood in themselves.

COMPUTERS

• PCs/UNIX/command line

environments Stand-alone mainframecomputers

CULTURE OF CALCULATION

• Macintosh/Windows;

Internet/WWW Computer networks

CULTURE OF SIMULATION

• Hierarchy, order, centralized control. • Subverted order, decentralizedcontrol, fragmentation.

CULTURE

• High culture vs. low culture -- strictlydivided; Only high culture deserves to

be studied, analyzed

• Everything's "popular" culture -- it

all deserves to be studied;pluralizing Commodification of

culture -- everything can be boughtor sold

• Humans are self-governing and free

to choose their own direction• People are the product of their

culture and only imagine they are

self-governing.

• reality can be discovered through

science and can be expressedabstractly (equations)

• "the transformation of reality into

images" (Britney Spears is not aperson but an image; Nike is not

about shoes but about an image,etc.)

• Mass culture, mass consumption,

mass marketing.

• Demassified culture; niche products

and marketing, smaller groupidentities.

STYLE

http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/html/howwebworks.htm

http://nmc.loyola.edu/intro/html/howwebworks.htm



• Pastiche and parody of multiple

styles: old forms of "content"become mere "styles"

• "in a world in which stylisticinnovation is no longer possible, all

that is left is to imitate deadstyles... (retro, bell bottoms,

resurect old styles periodicallybecause there is nothing else new--

we can only remix what's been

done.)

• stylistic masks, image styles,without present content: the

meaning is in the mimicry

• postmodern attempts to provideillusions of individualism (ads for

jeans, cars, etc.) through imagesthat define possible subject

positions or create desiredpositions (being the one who's cool,

hip, sexy, desirable,sophisticated...).

SYMBOLISM

• Symbols & meaning: hammer andsickle = world communism

• Symbols drained of meaning:

hammer and sickle in advertising

(e.g., beer commercials)ARCHITECTURE

• "Form follows function"; Le Corbusier,"machine aesthetic"; Mies van der

Rohe; International style (eg,airports): straight, clean lines

• Multiple, historical refs.; "playful"

mix of styles, past and present. LasVegas, Pompidou Center; Venturi,

Robert Stirling

BODY

• Clear dichotomy between organic andinorganic, human and machine

• cyborgian mixing of organic andinorganic, human and machine and

electronicPOLITICS

• Big ideas/big, centralized political

parties rule

• Fragmented ideas, decentralized

power; "micro-politics": interest

groups rule (minority factions,NRA, business groups); Foucault,

"everyone has a little power" TV



politics -- clash of images: "howwill it play on the six o'clock news?"

• Door-to-door politics; big rallies • "Late capitalism" rules

• Capitalism vs. communism: clash of

ideologies "The Making of thePresident" Parody: Dr. Strangelove;

Orwell's Animal Farm

• "The Selling of the President"

Pastiche: Wag The Dog

IDENTITY

• Sense of unified, centered self;

"individualism," unified identity.

• Sense of fragmentation and

decentered self; multiple,

conflicting identities.

ARTS

• Artist is creator rather than preserver

of culture Impressionism, Cubism,abstract expressionism, suprematism

(Malevich's "Black Square")"Photograph never lies" -- photos and

video are windows/mirrors of reality

• Artist plays with different styles;

aesthetics; pastiche all-importantPop Art, Dada, montage

• Art fights capitalism • Photoshop: photos and video canbe altered completely; montage

(where's the reality?) Art is

consumed by capitalism

• Art as unique object and finished

work authenticated by artist and

validated by agreed upon standards.

• Art as process, performance,

production, intertextuality. Art as

recycling of culture authenticatedby audience and validated insubcultures sharing identity with

the artist.

• Art as one unique object created by amaster artist.

Analog media: quality deteriorates

the farther removed a copy is fromthe original

• Art as copies (Andy Warhol'sFactory)

Digital media: there is no

distinction between an original anda copy

• Seriousness of intention and purpose,

middle-class earnestness.

• Play, irony, challenge to official

seriousness, subversion of

earnestness.

• Sense of clear generic boundaries andwholeness (art, music, and

literature).

• Hybridity, promiscuous genres,recombinant culture,

intertextuality, pastiche.

FICTION/LITERATURE

• Novel is the dominant form; movies

Author determines meaning; the• TV, WWW; Meaning is



"canon"; of great works:Shakespeare, Kafka, Joyce, Some can

tell "good" from "bad" -- art criticsimportant

indeterminate. Thomas Pynchon,Cathy Acker, William Gibson. Rise

in importance of "popular" culture;we can't tell good from bad; it's all

relative

• Interpretation of a text; there is an

ultimate meaning hidden insidemaster literature

• Non-interpretation of a text; there

is no ultimate meaning, insteadmeaning emerges from what the

audience brings to the text

• the book as sufficient bearer of the

word; the library as system forprinted knowledge

• hypermedia as transcendence of

physical limits of print media; theWeb or Net as information system

MEDIA

• Knowledge mastery, attempts toembrace a totality.

The encyclopedia.

• Navigation, information

management, just-in-timeknowledge.

The Web.

• Broadcast media, centralized one-

to-many communications.

• Interactive, client-server,

distributed, many- to-many media(the Net and Web).

• Centering/centeredness,

centralized knowledge.• Dispersal, dissemination,

networked, distributed knowledge

MUSIC

•

Mozart, Beethoven, Schoenberg Ideaof creating an artistic "piece"continued through to rock'n'roll era.

•

"World music"; Djs mixing of stylesSampling John Cage, David Byrne

KEYWORDS

depth surface

optimism cynicism

analog digital

linear multi-pathed

control-design chance

cause-effect synchronicity

logical spiritual

centered dispersed

uniformity diversity

hierarchical anarchical

authoritarian democratic

patriarchy non-patriarchy; feminism



monism pluralism

Difference between Modernism and

PostmodernismThe Modernism of the late 1800s was followed by postmodernism after

the Second World War. What characterized these movements? What isthe difference between modernism and postmodernism? To know it all,

read on…

According to some theorists, the 20th century can be divided into two

distinct periods; one characterized by the modernism movement andthe other by postmodernism. Some believe that postmodernism was a

response to modernism and hence consider them as two aspects of the

same movement. There are some major differences betweenmodernism and postmodernism. These distinctions make clear, the

basic difference in the ways of thinking that led to these movements.The difference between modernism and postmodernism highlights the

difference in the approaches towards life.

Modernism describes a collection of cultural movements of the latenineteenth and early twentieth century. It consists of a series of reforming movements in art, architecture, literature, music and applied

arts. Modernism was characterized by a dramatic change of thought,

whereby human intellect sought to improve their environment. Therewas a trend of improving every aspect of life by involving science and

technology into it. Modernism brought about a reform in all spheres of



life including philosophy, commerce, art and literature, with the aid of technology and experimentation. It led to progress in all the aspects of

life by changing the approach of mankind of looking at them.Postmodernism means, 'after the modern’. It was a reaction to

modernism and was influenced by the disenchantment brought about by

the Second World War. Postmodernism refers to the state that lacks acentral hierarchy and one that is complex, ambiguous and diverse. The

developments in society, the economy and the culture of the 1960swere impacted by postmodernism.

Difference between Modernism and Postmodernism

Modernism began in the 1890s and lasted till about 1945.Postmodernism began after the Second World War, especially after

1968. Modernism was based on using rational, logical means to gain

knowledge while postmodernism denied the application of logicalthinking. Rather, the thinking during the postmodern era was based on

unscientific, irrational thought process, as a reaction to modernism. Ahierarchical and organized and determinate nature of knowledge

characterized modernism. But postmodernism was based on ananarchical, non-totalized and indeterminate state of knowledge.

Modernist approach was objective, theoretical and analytical while the

postmodernism approach was based on subjectivity. It lacked theanalytical nature and thoughts were rhetorical and completely based on

belief. The fundamental difference between modernism andpostmodernism is that modernist thinking is about the search of an

abstract truth of life while postmodernist thinkers believe that there isno universal truth, abstract or otherwise.

Modernism attempts to construct a coherent world-view whereaspostmodernism attempts to remove the difference between high and

low. Modernist thinking asserts that mankind progresses by using

science and reason while postmodernist thinking believes that progressis a only way to justify the European domination on culture. Modernist

thinking believes in learning from past experiences and trusts the textsthat narrate the past. On the other hand postmodernist thinking defies

any truth in the text narrating the past and renders it of no use in thepresent times. Modernist historians have a faith in depth. They believein going deep into a subject to fully analyze it. This is not the case with

postmodernist thinkers. They believe in going by the superficialappearances, they believe in playing on surfaces and show no concern

towards the depth of subjects. Modernism considers the original worksas authentic while postmodernist thinkers base their views on hyper-

reality; they get highly influenced by things propagated through media.



During the modernist era, art and literary works were considered as

unique creations of the artists. People were serious about the purpose of producing art and literary works. These works were believed to bear a

deep meaning, novels and books predominated society. During the

postmodernist era, with the onset of computers, media andadvancements in technology, television and computers became

dominant in society. Art and literary works began to be copied andpreserved by the means of digital media. People no longer believed in

art and literary works bearing one unique meaning; they rather believed

in deriving their own meanings from pieces of art and literature.Interactive media and Internet led to distribution of knowledge. Music

like Mozart, Beethoven, which was appreciated during modernismbecame less popular in the postmodern era. World music, Djs and

remixes characterized postmodernism. The architectural forms that

were popular during modernism were replaced by a mix of differentarchitectural styles in the postmodern times.

A relatively slow paced life that was driven by grounded principles

became fast paced and lost its calm. Has pace killed peace?

A L IST O F P OSTMODERN

C HARACTERISTICS .

Irony, playfulness, black humor

Postmodern authors were certainly not the first to use irony

and humor in their writing, but for many postmodern

authors, these became the hallmarks of their style.

Postmodern authors will often treat very serious subjects— World War II, the Cold War, conspiracy theories—from a

position of distance and disconnect, and will choose to depict

their histories ironically and humorously.



http://books.google.com/books?

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Pastiche

Many postmodern authors combined, or “pasted” elements

of previous genres and styles of literature to create a new

narrative voice, or to comment on the writing of their

contemporaries. Thomas Pynchon, one of the most

important postmodern authors, uses elements from detective

fiction, science fiction, and war fiction, songs, pop culturereferences, and well-known, obscure, and fictional history.

http://booksoupbookstore.blogspot.com/2008/05/unfortun

ates-by-bs-johnson.html

Intertextuality

An important element of postmodernism is its

acknowledgment of previous literary works. The

intertextuality of certain works of postmodern fiction, the

dependence on literature that has been created earlier,

attempts to comment on the situation in which both

literature and society found themselves in the second half of

the 20th century: living, working, and creating on the backs

of those that had come before.


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http://booksoupbookstore.blogspot.com/2008/05/unfortunates-by-bs-johnson.html


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Metafiction

Many postmodern authors feature metafiction in their

writing, which, essentially, is writing about writing, an

attempt to make the reader aware of its ficitionality, and,

sometimes, the presence of the author. Authors sometimes

use this technique to allow for flagrant shifts in narrative,

impossible jumps in time, or to maintain emotional distance

as a narrator.


id=FM4y7N1kM9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=slaughterhou

se-five&ei=JdwISu7zLZasM4n7jIsG

Historiographic metafiction

This term was created by Linda Hutcheon to refer to novels

that fictionalize actual historical events and characters:

Thomas Pynchon’s Mason and Dixon, for example, features a

scene in which George Washington smokes pot.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Labyrinth-Gabriel-Garc

%C3%ADa-M%C3%A1rquez/dp/0140148590

Temporal distortionTemporal distortion is a literary technique that uses a

nonlinear timeline; the author may jump forwards or

backwards in time, or there may be cultural and historical

references that do not fit: Abraham Lincoln uses a telephone



http://books.google.com/books?id=FM4y7N1kM9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=slaughterhouse-five&ei=JdwISu7zLZasM4n7jIsG



http://www.amazon.com/General-Labyrinth-Gabriel-Garc%C3%ADa-M%C3%A1rquez/dp/0140148590











in Ishmael Reed’s Flight to Canada. This technique is

frequently used in literature, but it has become even more

common in films.


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Technoculture and hyperreality

In his essay of the same name, Frederic Jameson called

postmodernism the “cultural logic of late capitalism.”

According to his logic, society has moved beyond capitalism

into the information age, in which we are constantly

bombarded with advertisements, videos, and product

placement. Many postmodern authors reflect this in their

work by inventing products that mirror actual

advertisements, or by placing their characters in situations in

which they cannot escape technology.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/01/27/030127fi_

fiction

Paranoia

Many postmodern authors write under the assumption that

modern society cannot be explained or understood. Fromthat point of view, any apparent connections or controlling

influences on the chaos of society would be very frightening,

and this lends a sense of paranoia to many postmodern

works.

http://books.google.com/books?id=4269Rt0vqTIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=flight+to+canada&lr=&num=50&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=s9wISsguk841mYeBow4




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Maximalism

Villified by its critics for being in turns disorganized,

sprawling, overly long, and emotionally disconnected,

maximalism exists in the tradition of long works like The

Odyssey. Authors that use this technique will sometimes

defend their work as being as long as it needs to be,depending on the subject material that is covered.


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Minimalism

Minimalism is a style of writing in which the author

deliberately presents characters that are unexceptional and

events that are taken from everyday life. It is not an

exclusively postmodern technique, as many writers, most

notably Ernest Hemingway, wrote in a similar style, but

some critics claim that Samuel Beckett, one of the mostimportant postmodern authors, perfected minimalism.

http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Godot-Tragicomedy-

Two-Acts/dp/0802130348

http://books.google.com/books?id=vp2Sv9KO1VUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=crying+of+lot+49&lr=&num=50&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=BN0ISsjXMIvKNdv-tYUC




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http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Godot-Tragicomedy-Two-Acts/dp/0802130348












Faction

Faction is very similar to historiographic metafiction, in that

its subject material is based on actual events, but writers of

faction tend to blur the line between fact and fiction to thedegree that it is almost impossible to know the difference

between the two, as opposed to metafiction, which often

draws attention to the fact that it is not true.


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Magical realism

Arguably the most important postmodern technique, magical

realism is the introduction of fantastic or impossible

elements into a narrative that is otherwise normal. Magical

realist novels may include dreams taking place duringnormal life, the return of previously deceased characters,

extremely complicated plots, wild shifts in time, and myths

and fairy tales becoming part of the narrative. Many critics

argue that magical realism has its roots in the work of Jorge

Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, two South

American writers, and some have classified it as a Latin

American style.


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Participation

Many postmodern authors, as a response to modernism,

which frequently set its authors apart from their readers,

attempt to involve the reader as much as possible over the

course of a novel. This can take the form of asking the reader

questions, including unwritten narratives that must beconstructed by the reader, or allowing the reader to make

decisions regarding the course of the narrative.

http://books.google.com/books?id=W6oIvSR4MQkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=100+years+of+solitude&lr=&num=50&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=p90ISvfjPI3MM7a1uO0B







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