Postmodernism Postmodernist Literature ASL Literature in English Postmodernism

Postmodernism & Postmodernist Literature ASL Literature in English

Postmodernism: Definition n n Coined in 1949 To describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture, founding the postmodern architecture Any of several movements (as in art, architecture, or literature) reacting against the philosophy and practices of modern movements An effect of, or reaction to, postmodernity -- a historical and cultural period that many believe has succeeded modernity

Postmodernist Literature: Overview After World War II n A series of reactions against the perceived failure n Extension of modernist literature n Reaction against modernism n

Postmodernist Literature: Overview n Important Works: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) l Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth (1968) l Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) l Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (1973) l

Wagner’s Approach to the Definition of Postmodernism n n To give a label to the period after 1968 (which would then encompass all forms of fiction, both innovative and traditional) To describe the highly experimental literature by Lawrence Durrell and John Fowles in 1960 s to Martin Amis and the "Chemical (Scottish) Generation" of the fin-de-siècle

Wagner’s Approach to the Definition of Postmodernism Postmodernist writers: Experimental authors (especially Durrell, Fowles, Carter, Brooke. Rose, Barnes, Ackroyd, and Martin Amis) n Postmodern writers: authors who have been less innovative n

Modernism Vs Postmodernism n n n A break from 19 th century realism A story was told from an objective or omniscient point of view Character development: l l l n Both literature explore subjectivism Turning from external reality to examine inner states of consciousness Drawing on modernist examples in the stream of consciousness styles of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce Absurd plays: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Modernism Vs Postmodernism: Poems n The Waste Land by T S Eliot Fragmentary l Employing pastiche like much postmodern literature l Speaker in The Waste Land: "these fragments I have shored against my ruins" l Modernist literature: fragmentation and extreme subjectivity as an existential crisis, or Freudian internal conflict l

Modernism Vs Postmodernism: Poems A problem that must be solved, and the artist often cited as the one to solve it l Postmodernists: this chaos is insurmountable; the artist is impotent, and the only recourse against "ruin" is to play within the chaos. l Playfulness becomes central and the actual achievement of order and meaning becomes unlikely l

Modernism Vs Postmodernism n n n Explore fragmentariness in narrativeand character-construction Characterized by allusive difficulty, paradox, and indifference or outright hostility to the democratic ethos More and more in jeopardy since the rise of fascism and dictatorial communism.

Postmodernist Literature: Characterization n Not necessarily the same as the literature of postmodernity The movement ("postmodernism") focuses on eclecticism (the choosing of the "best" of previous movements), based on the postwar value system Any literature of the period postmodernity might be mislabelled "postmodern"

Common Themes & Techniques n Irony, playfulness, black humor l l l Postmodern fiction: characterized by the ironic quote marks, Postmodern novelists labeled black humorists: John Barth, Joseph Heller, William Gaddis, Kurt Vonnegut, Bruce Jay Friedman Common to treat serious subjects in a playful and humorous way

Common Themes & Techniques Stories of Donald Barthelme: A good example of postmodern irony and black humor l “The School”: the ironic death of plants, animals, and people connected to the children in one class l The inexplicable repetition of death is treated only as a joke and the narrator remains emotionally distant throughout l

Common Themes & Techniques Thomas Pynchon: playfulness, often including silly wordplay, within a serious context l “The Crying of Lot 49”: Characters named Mike Fallopian and Stanley Koteks and a radio station called KCUF, while having a serious subject and a complex structure l

Common Themes & Techniques n Pastiche l l l To combine, or "paste" together, multiple elements. An homage to or a parody of past styles A representation of the chaotic, pluralistic, or information-drenched aspects of postmodern society A combination of multiple genres to create a unique narrative or to comment on situations in postmodernity William S. Burroughs: science fiction, detective fiction, westerns Margaret Atwood: science fiction and fairy tales

Common Themes & Techniques l l Broader pastiche of the postmodern novel: Metafiction and temporal distortion The Public Burning by Robert Coover (1977): Mixture of historically inaccurate accounts of Richard Nixon interacting with historical figures and fictional characters such as Uncle Sam and Betty Crocker. Pastiche in ompositional technique: the cutup technique by Burroughs. The Unfortunates by B. S. Johnson (1969): released in a box with no binding for readers to assemble how ever they chose.

Common Themes & Techniques n Metafiction l l l Writing about writing or "foregrounding the apparatus" Making the artificiality of art or the fictionality of fiction apparent to the reader Generally disregards the necessity for “willful suspension of disbelief” To undermine the authority of the author, for unexpected narrative shifts To advance a story in a unique way, for emotional distance To comment on the act of storytelling

Common Themes & Techniques If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (1979): a reader attempting to read a novel of the same name l Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969): the first chapter - about the process of writing the novel l

Common Themes & Techniques n Historiographic metafiction l Fictionalize actual historical events or figures n The General in His Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (about Simón Bolívar) n Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow (featuring such historical figures as Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and Sigmund Freud)

Common Themes & Techniques n Temporal distortion l l Central features: Fragmentation and non -linear narratives Temporal distortion for the sake of irony Example: Historiographic metafiction Distortions in time in Kurt Vonnegut's non-linear novels: Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse Five coming "unstuck in time“

Common Themes & Techniques l l l Anachronisms: Abraham Lincoln using a telephone In his flight to Canada (Ishmael Reed) Time may also overlap, repeat, or bifurcate into multiple possibilities. "The Babysitter" from Pricksongs & Descants by Robert Coover: multiple possible events occurring simultaneously -- in one section the babysitter is murdered while in another section nothing happens and so on

Common Themes & Techniques n Technoculture and hyperreality l l Fredric Jameson: “society has moved past the industrial age and into the information age”. Jean Baudrillard: postmodernity was defined by a shift into hyperreality in which simulations have replaced the real. People are inundated with information Technology as a central focus in many lives

Common Themes & Techniques Our understanding of the real is mediated by simulations of the real l Characteristic irony and pastiche l n White Noise by Don De. Lillo: characters who are bombarded with a “white noise” of television, product brand names, and clichés n The cyberpunk fiction of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson

Common Themes & Techniques n Paranoia l l The belief that there is an ordering system behind the chaos of the world Postmodernist: no ordering system exists, so a search for order is fruitless and absurd. Often coincides with theme of technoculture and hyperreality. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut: the character Dwayne Hoover becomes violent when he is convinced that everyone else in the world is a robot and he is the only human

Common Themes & Techniques n Maximalism l a term used in literature, art, multimedia and graphical design, and music l to explain a movement by encompassing all factors under a multipurpose umbrella term like expressionism To describe the extensive way of writing post-modern novels l Digression, reference, and elaboration of detail l Also described as hysterical realism (similar to magical realism) coined by James Wood

~Time to go~ Thank you!