Postmodernism Essay
Essay On Postmodernism
An Overview of Postmodernism Essay
The Impact Of Postmodernism
Essay on Postmodern condition
Postmodernism Essay
Postmodern Art Essay
1. Postmodernism Essay
Postmodernism
The 20th Century, in many ways, can be remembered as a time of scientific and technological
revolution. The innovations and rapid growth in many areas of technology have cast doubt upon
words such as ignorance and impossibility. This revolution also instigated new and/or radical ideas
in the world of academia. The growth of post–modernism and its adherers in historical circles have
caused quite a stir in dealing with the validity of many historical documents. Critical analysis of the
subject of modernism and post–modernism can be simplified in one statement: What is our
understanding of certainty? The modern critical analysis form is an ideal philosophy of
industrialism, an ideology that adopts the...show more content...
The common goal for modern historians is to find HISTORY, truth, and moral rights by
methodically deducing facts and past events. By such ways, the truthful understanding of the past
makes history useful for us in the present. In post–modern critical analysis, its philosophy lies in the
critiquing the false in modernism. Truth/fact is merely a socially constructed ideal dependent on the
context in which it is used [connotative meanings]. Post–modernists debunk the importance of fact
due to limited personal perspectives. Since each person could have numerous perspectives on issues,
the shear number would constitute the many facts once could have. Opposed to the modernist
philosophy reflecting Western history, post–modernism follows an Eastern eclectic form of what
history might be. In relation to historical analysis, post–modernism raises the importance of context.
Truth/fact is dependent on the time, place and the observer. Post–modernists see many historical
documents as a narrative, stories in which their validity is questionable and thus it cannot be
completely true. For the record, I am a modernist with some post–modernist ideals. Modern critical
analysis of history appears to be more fathomable than post–modernism. To look at the world around
us objectively correlates events with reality, and gives meaning to why things happen and to prevent
bad things from repeating in the future.
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2. Essay On Postmodernism
The concept of postmodernism is complex in that it does not share a common stream of thoughts
but rather plays individual idea of post modernism into different parts of fields. According to A
Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory by Raman Selden, "some see it as simply the
continuation and development of modernist ideas, while others have seen in postmodern art a
radical break with classical modernism." Depending on which field it is being applied on,
postmodernism shows unalike features of trends. In architecture, literature, art, film, and more,
postmodernism has shown distinct and unique identity. In literature, there is no clear beginning and
endings as did in modernistic literature. The meaning of the literature is not to be found and
meaningless in that postmodernism bases its root on ontological uncertainty....show more content...
In postmodernism, there may or may not be a moral which may change depending on the context of
both the reader and writer. In architecture, double–coding, combination of the traditional style and
contemporary context was brought to light. Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans, Die Neue Staatsgalerie
in Stuttgart are examples of this. In art the destruction of the distinction between commercial culture
and the elite culture was emphasized. The mass crowd were made to more easily access the works
of art which the modernists considered exclusive to the elite. Postmodernism has rejected traditional
values and ideas in its own way in various fields, so the definition of postmodernism cannot be
reduced down into one line. Since the rise of postmodernism was in objection to the boundaries and
limits of the tradition, it may be that postmodernism cannot be cleared down into a single
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3. An Overview of Postmodernism Essay
The political climate at the beginning of the 1940's and the changes taking place all around the
world drastically influenced the face of contemporary society. The invasion of Poland by
Germany on 1st of September 1939 was the first stone thrown in the face of freedom of
expression and liberty out of the many that followed for the next decades. The dawn of the Second
World War was one of the premises that forced many European artists, pioneers par excellence in
their field, through their French or German inherited status, to immigrate across the ocean. Due to
the exile, the art centre also moved overseas, from Paris to New York, offering a new opportunity
for American art to be the initiator in what was generally accepted as the new...show more content...
This description is trying to clearly position postmodernism in a specific time frame and outline its
main characteristics. However, when consulting the Macmillan Dictionary (2010) the description
offered is significantly less conclusive:
"ideas, attitudes, or styles of art, literature, or thinking that have developed after modernism, often as
a reaction against "
The main accent is set on the chronological aspect of postmodernism and its logical and historical
flow offering the reader not enough information to identify a clear period or any particular feature.
Only by comparing the two definitions, a very small part of the available explanations on the
subject, and at the same time reading them together one can identify one of the main components of
the movement: diversity in all its aspects. The difference in these definitions is not just a simple
coincidence and should be taken as a figure of speech for the description of the entire period.
During this time critics and writers, artists and architects etc. have tried to find a proper explanation
for the changes they were being part of, concretised in what became known as Postmodernism.
During the 1960s 'attacks' started appearing against the elitism shown by modernism. One of the
first voices pointing at modernism's faults was the poet Karl Shapiro , who in 1959 in an article for
The Times Book
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4. The Impact Of Postmodernism
Postmodernism was a reaction against the modernism philosophical values and assumptions.
Although many agree that there is a thin line between modernism and postmodernism,
postmodernism is not modernism. In modernism, scientific theories were used to determine what is
true. However, postmodernism allows individuals to question the theories and not take them as facts
(Duignan, 2014). While modernism emphasized on objectivism, postmodernism allows extensive
subjectivism in all aspects of life.
The main features of a postmodernist are that he or she is overly subjective, sensitive towards the
role of ideology in assertion and maintenance of political and economic power. On the other hand, a
modernist for example, there exists objective natural reality which is independent of human beings,
their practices and relationships (Duignan, 2014). Such realities...show more content...
In reaction, it furthered inclusion, freedom, and cooperation in the society. Although it lacks clear
doctrine, the distinction noticeable between the 1860s to 1950s and 1950s to date is clear evidence
that there was and still there is such movement as postmodernism. Postmodernists qualify their
theoretical position as advocating for inclusivity and democracy in the society because of their
keenness to recognize unjust enlightenment and challenging it with equally valid perspectives.
References
Duignan, B. (2014, May 14). Postmodernism philosophy. Retrieved January 27, 2018, from
www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism–philosophy
Jenkins, S. (2018). Postmodern Art Definition Overview and Analysis. Retrieved January 27, 2018,
from http://www.theartstory.org/definition–postmodernism.htm
Lyotard, J. (2001). Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism? Postmodern Debates, 53–62.
doi:10.1057/978–1–137–04505–8_5
Sim, S. (2012). Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. Florence: Taylor and
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5. Essay on Postmodern condition
1. What is meant by the 'postmodern condition'? Postmodernism can be called "a condition of
contemporary culture", it is a modern movement which is strong, ambiguous, very popular and
controversial. However, it is very difficult to explain the term because there is no full clarity what
the term really means. As one can read in The Condition of Postmodernity it is "a mine–field of
conflicting notions" and "a battleground of conflicting opinions and political forces". There are so
many interpretations, definitions and evaluations of the term that it is hardly possible to build a
coherent definition, or to be brave enough to attempt to describe it. Almost everyone has a different
opinion about it, advocate "for" or "against" or are...show more content...
One of the hyperreality images and the world of imagination (Baudrillard writes) is Disneyland,
which is the perfect model of all those confusing orders of simulation. It is primarily a game of
illusions and phantasms. Imaginary world of Disneyland is neither true nor false. It is a space of
regeneration of the world of imagination, reminiscent of a recycling factory. Thus, the world of the
imagination of children and adults is a rubbish, the first great civilization hyper real pollution.
Disneyland is a prototype of this new feature on the mental area. As one can read in Simulacra and
Simulation "It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology) but of
concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle".
Another example of " flipping " a deeper reality by its overriding, and then hiding its deficiencies,
through breaking any relations with it and finally achieving the status of its simulacrum, completely
emancipated from the power of what is real is the Sokal hoax. Sokal saw a marked reduction in the
standards of intellectual reliability in some American humanistic academic circles. That is why he
decided to do the "experiment", which consisted in checking whether the leading American journal
dedicated to cultural research will publish a text full of nonsense, if it only sound good. It turned out
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6. Postmodernism Essay
Postmodernism Postmodernism blends old themes with new contemporary issues to create beautiful
artwork that commands, questions, and captivates all viewers to participate in discovering its inner
meaning. Along with an inner meaning and beauty, it was used as a form of communication that was
directed towards social, political, and cultural problems within the world. An architect Robert Stern
states, " The fundamental shift to post–modernism has to do with the reawakening of artists in every
field to public responsibilities of art. Once again art is being regarded as an act of communication."
(Wilkin, Schultz, Linduff, "Art Past Art Present, p.579) The postmodern era emancipated its artists
from old traditional barriers that...show more content...
His style is unique in that he chooses five major squares to encapsulate her face, but also used
many little squares of various colors to blur her image. Jean resembles traditional art by making the
center square a focal point. Again mixing the old with a new twist.
Thematically it represents to me a person with several different faces each with different personality
within one formed entity. Jean's Mona Lisa breaks down the cultural barriers that separate different
cultures of today. Perhaps each square represents one or many different cultures striving for
completeness and unity, which is represented by the middle image, which could be another
translation. Politically it represents freedom of choice and democracy, which has come a long way
since early 1900's. Each person in the image has their own opinion and when each opinion is
combined and agreed upon then the real power lies within numbers. Which is how are political
structure is structured. One person chosen by election to represent the majority.
Another artist of the postmodern era is a poet name Octavio Paz born in 1914–1999 in Mexico. Paz
along with many others believed that language could make oneself be very expressive. His poem
called "To Talk" expresses the feeling that mortal man has special powers that no other being even
the gods do not possess. If this poem was written back in the medieval or early times Paz would
have been persecuted
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7. Postmodern Art Essay
Postmodern art decided to make revolutionary break with past and questioned previous theories
known as "big narratives" of art, politics, economics and overall culture in order to create new
theories. The big part of postmodern theory deals with the belief of preexistence of the art all around
us. The artist is the one who can recognize these elements of art around as and synthesize them into
the art work. This art work becomes object of interpretation which inevitably varies among different
generations, social groups, national group, religious groups, and depends on some extent of the
educational level of the observers and it is also different in the same individual in different times or
environments. The different interpretations of...show more content...
In another words Borges through his character, Pierre Menard, primarily examined the terms of
the originality, inspiration, and innovation in the art. Borges argues for strong mutual
connections between the written work (art work) and the reader (observer) and written work
(art) and the creator. He created his fictional world in which he unfolded the story encompassing
his philosophy of art, self examined it from different angles without a fear of overestimating
values of his own work because he is just objectively praising Pierre Menard's artistic product. In
the story Pierre Menard presents two options how he could write his Quixote. The first option is
that he, Pierre Menard, will become Cervantes, in that way that he will learn to speak 17th century
Spanish, he will learn the history and examine the circumstances that were surrounding Cervantes
while he was writing his Quixote. Of course, this option is denied as impossible (ironically,
Borges says it too easy.) The second option, for Menard, is to write his own, Quixote; The Quixote
that will, in its appearance, resemble the "original" work, but in its core will be completely different
piece. Menard will become different Cervantes, do it through his own experience and knowledge. In
this way, he will not only distinguish his "The Quixote" from the "Don Quixote," but Menard still
will stay himself. Menard intended to create The Quixote by his own means (talent, brain power,
experience) so that it would be
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