A presentation about and for Postmodernism. By no means exhaustive and hardly worth noting.

2. Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project, St. Louis, Missouri, 1954
MODERNISM

3. MODERNISM
MODERNISM
MODERNISM
MODERNISM

8. Modern[ism] died in
St. Louis, Missouri
on July 15, 1972
at 3.32 pm…
Charles Jencks
The New Paradigm in Architecture:
The Language of Post-Modernism

9. POSTMODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
POSTMODERNISM
Portland, Oregon
Michael Graves (1982)
Portland Building

10. POSTMODERNISM and YOU!
By Ryan Beitz

11. What is Postmodernism?
It must first be stated that the very term
“Postmodernism” in itself is a highly
debated topic.
There exists much debate about whether the
conditions described as Postmodern are at
all unique and new, or if said conditions
even exist…

12. (UN/)FORTUNATELY…
For us, the very debate surrounding the term
is evidence enough that as educated people
we must consider the ideas associated with
the term.
And what’s more, the term has become an
indispensable name for a way of thinking
about literature, which clearly concerns us.

13. So where do/did we start?

14. Architecture.

15. On the left we have On the right is a seminal
Modernist architect instance of
Minoru Yamasaki’s 1954 Postmodern
Pruitt-Igoe housing Architecture.
projects in St. Louis. It is The Portland Building
an example of Modernist
style called: in Portland was
designed by Michael
International Style. Graves and completed in
1982.

16. Modernism vs. Postmodernism
We started here with architecture because
contained within each of these two buildings is
the respective ideologies of Modernism and
Postmodernism.
The suggestion here is that Postmodernism
comes after and out of Modernism. And as
architect Charles Jencks suggested, the
moment of transition from Modernism to
Postmodernism happened July 15, 1972
at 3.32 pm with the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe.

17. Now the exact date here is somewhat
irrelevant, as Jencks means more to make a
firm point about the death of modernism in
general than he has any concern for the
exact time.
And we have chosen architecture as a
launch point for 2 reasons:
first, architecture provides a clear example
of the visual aesthetics associated with each
movement; and second…

18. …our first contrast was architecture
because architecture is a concrete
reflection of the cultural and economic
conditions from which it arises.
So, then, we should begin to see that
Postmodernism is not purely an aesthetic
style, but something more. This something
more includes cultural and economic
conditions. More precisely, Postmodernism
names a change in the cultural and
economic conditions that help to constitute
the western world.

19. Literary Modernism
But what are these changes? How does
Postmodernism differ from Modernism?
Well if we recall our thinking about
modernism in terms of our study of literature,
we might find ourselves at a dead halt.
Literary Modernism and general Postmodern
thought share a lot of the same
presumptions. But we’ll come back to this.

20. Cultural Modernism
However, if we (briefly) recall, cultural
Modernism had its origin in Enlightenment
thought. I.e. …
Immanuel Kant G.W.F. Hegel Karl Marx
1724-1804 1770-1831 1818-1883

21. Enlightenment
Kant: thought science would usher in human
progress by uniting experience and reason…
Hegel: thought history was driving toward
utopia (History’s end) by way of a dialectical
resolution of all conflict…
Marx: thought all industrial societies resolved
conflict by moving through stages of economic
systems, such that the end of history was the
logical progression from capitalism to
communism…

22. From Enlightenment to Modernism
Kant, Hegel, and Marx all shared a belief in
the progress of human kind. That the world’s
peoples were in constant motion toward a
better future.
Each thinker shared the belief that Universal
Reason was the means by which such
progress would happen.

23. Modernism
Kant, Hegel, and Marx helped to lay the
foundation for our “Modern” way of thinking.
As moderns, we ourselves believed that science
and reason could show an objective truth that
would free all of mankind from the irrationality
of the past.
In modernity, the Industrial Revolution and
Capitalism are the manifestations of this
Universal Reason.

24. Post-Modernism?
So if science and capitalism are forms of
universal truth that Modernism has employed
in the name of progress, then what is Post-
Modernism?
And further, if we still practice science and
capitalism, then how have we moved
beyond modernism?

25. Postmodernism.
This now is the moment where we can start
to get a sense of just what Postmodernism is.
Postmodernism is the name often attributed
to the cultural changes that have occurred
since Modernism took hold during the 19th
century.
These changes can be understood in 3
registers:

26. The 3 registers of Postmodernism
1. Postmodernity: names the broad changes
occurring in the cultural and economic conditions of
the Western World since the 19th century.
2. Postmodernism: is the thought that attempts to
account for, determine the origin of, and criticize
these conditions.
3. Postmodern: can be seen as the name for the
individuals living within these conditions, and so also
name the art, literature, music, and other cultural
activity that we Postmoderns engage in.

27. Postmodern Thought
In understanding Postmodernism it is
essential that we get a sense of just what
Postmoderns think. The easiest way to do
this is compare and contrast Modernism with
Postmodernism.
So we’ll start with some terms common to
each that oppose each other.

28. MO vs. POMO
-Progress -Change
-The West - Global
-Universal Truth -Relative Truth
-objectivity -Perspectivism
-Identity -Difference
-Freedom -Choice
-Hierarchy -non-Hierarchical
-Unity -Diversity

29. Difference
What we see in our loose table here is a shift
in thinking. Where the Modernists believed
in Universal Truth and Reason as key to the
progress of a unified human race,
Postmoderns question the validity of the
assumptions that the Modernist insistence on
progress is based on.

30. Linguistic Difference
The Postmoderns place a huge stock in the
idea that language produces our reality. As
a consequence of this, any attempt at
universalizing thought is seen as totalitarian
or hegemonic. Where the moderns use tools
like science, math, symbolic logic, or some
other language to communicate ideas and
truths clearly, the Postmoderns feel that
these truths are being constructed by the
very language that structures the method of
investigation.

31. What?
To simplify, Postmoderns believe that
favoring any one way of thinking over
another leads to the destruction of
alternative ways of thinking about the
world, thereby destroying diversity and the
possibility of different ways of thinking.
After all, if science is the only truth, what
good is literature?

32. Postmodern Thinkers
It might be helpful now to take a jaunt
through some of the big names in
Postmodern thinking. These thinkers range
from philosophers and literary critics to
economists, psychologists, and linguists.
And with each name, we’ll briefly try to
gather how they think about the world. Feel
free to peruse their ideas or just glance at
their names…

33. Postmodern Thinkers: Foundations
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844 – 1900, is a
German philosopher considered by
many to be the progenitor of
Postmodern thought. He is famous for
questioning the foundations of western
rationality suggesting that the
perspective from which one
investigates reality shapes his or
results. His essay “On Truth and Lies in
the Extra-Moral Sense” is considered
by many to be the manifesto of
Postmodern thought.

34. Postmodern Thinkers: Foundations
Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, a
German philosopher whose book opus,
Being and Time, is considered one of
the most influential works of
philosophy in history. Heidegger, like
Nietzsche, questioned the foundations
of Western thought, while providing an
alternative way of thinking about
humanity’s relation to the world.
Heidegger is often considered the
father of existentialism, though he
rejected French existentialism on the
grounds of its Humanism.

35. Postmodern Thinkers of the 60’s
Jacques Lacan Jean-Francois Michel Foucault Jacques Derrida
1901-1982 Lyotard 1926-1984 1930-2004
Pioneering French 1924-1981 French Sociologist French philosopher
Psychoanalyst who French philosopher who analyzed &literary critic who
showed how who wrote The history to show the showed how
culture and Postmodern way political knowledge and
language construct Condition: A power has been truth
subjectivity Report on wielded to “deconstruct”
Knowledge construct truth themselves through
language

36. Postmodern Art
Now that we know who some of the thinkers of
Postmodernity are, we would do well to look at
some example of Postmodern art.
And to aid in recognizing the change from
Modern Art to the Postmodern, we’ll view the
styles side by side (as like with Pruitt-Igoe and
the Portland Building).

37. Modern Postmodern
In Painting…
< Guernica (1937)
Picasso (Modern)
Girl with a Tear III (1977)
Roy Lichtenstein (Postmodern)>

38. Modern Postmodern
In Sculpture…
Something Pacific
Nam June Paik (1986) (below)
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
Umberto Boccioni (1913)^

39. Modern Postmodern
In Architecture…
Seagram Building in New York Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Charles Moore (1978)
& Phillip Johnson (1958)

40. Modern Postmodern
In Classical Music…
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky Phillip Glass
1882-1971 1937-(Alive)
Russian Composer American Composer

41. Modern Postmodern
In Pop Music…
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra Devo
1915-1998 1972-Present
American Singer American Punk/New Wave

42. Modern Postmodern
In Film…
The Searchers Blue Velvet
1956 1986
John Ford David Lynch

43. Literary Modernism and
Postmodernism
Now finally, and as most relevant to our course of study,
we should clarify the subtle, if existing, differences
between modern and postmodern literature.
As we have seen in our studies of literary modernism so
far there is the tendency to be highly self-reflective
(Proust), to show the break down or dysfunction of
social norms (Pirandello), as well as the fragmentation
of narrative, questions of identity, the validity of
universal truth, etc.
All these things sound very postmodern…

44. Literary Pomo
What should become (un/)clear is the relationship
between literary modernism and postmodernism
seems vexed. This is partly because the expression
of postmodern thought finds a lot of its basis in the
ideas of modern literature. That is Modernist
literature has been a sort of trailblazer for cultural
thinking, ahead of its time.
We can, however, sort out at least 3 distinct
differences between literary modernism and
postmodernism we should attempt to recognize.

45. 3 Characteristics of Lit. Pomo
1. Lit. POMO recognizes diversity by attempting to give cultural
others their own voice. In modern novel’s like Conrad’s Heart of
Darkness non-westerner’s are merely described.
2. Reference and Allusion in Modernist lit. is high brow making
references to high culture, like in James Joyce’s Ulysses which has
Homer’s The Odyssey as its implied backdrop. Pomo lit. (and
architecture esp.) makes references to pop culture, things low-
brow, think the Simpsons.
3. Last, the fragmentation persistent in modernist lit. usually has
some coherence about it, i.e. the fragmentation ultimately makes a
point, has a narrative arch. Pomo lit. wields fragmentation with no
coherence, no resolve, no purpose. The narrative arch is gone, no
rise and fall. This places the burden of meaning on the reader, he or
she must decide for him/herself what is meaningful, if anything at
all.

46. So Modern Postmodern
In Literature…
Heart of Darkness Waiting for Godot
1899 1953
Joseph Conrad Samuel Beckett
Ulysses Gravity’s Rainbow
1922 1973
James Joyce Thomas Pynchon
Mrs. Dalloway White Noise
1925 1985
Virginia Woolf Don DeLillo

47. Works Cited
Habib, Rafey. "The Era of Poststructuralism (II):
Postmodernism, Modern Feminism, Gender
Studies."Modern Literary Criticism and Theory: A
History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008. 113-
145. Print.
Jencks, Charles. The New Paradigm in Architecture: The
Language of Post-modern Architecture. 7th ed. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Print.
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