3. The term ‘postmodernism’ has been the subject of much debate, especially
during the 1980s and 1990s. Some see it as simply the continuation and
development of modernist ideas; others have seen in postmodern art a radical
break with classical modernism; while others again view past literature and
culture retrospectively through post-modern eyes, identifying texts and authors
(de Sade, Borges, the Ezra Pound of The Cantos) as ‘already’ postmodern.
Postmodernist theories
4. In a later work, Practising Postmodernism/ Reading Modernism (1992), Waugh
approaches postmodernism itself as an aesthetic and philosophical category
which we can learn from and be critical of. Like many others, she seeks here to
redefine rather than jettison modernist works and assumptions in the
elaboration of what she calls a ‘New Humanism’. These, and other, critics have
continued invariably to respond, however, to the two most influential theories of
postmodernism indicated above: the dominance of the sign or image and
consequent loss of the real, and a scepticism towards the ‘grand narratives’ of
human progress. These are associated respectively with the French
philosophers Jean Baudrillard and Jean-François Lyotard.
Postmodernist theories
5. From the explanation before we can conclude that Post modernism is a term that
encompasses a wide range of developments in philosophy, film, architecture,
art, literature, and culture. Originally a reaction to modernism, reffering to the
lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought or organized principle.
Postmodernist theories
7. JEAN BAUDRILLARD
Jean Baudrillard has been referred to as "the high
priest of postmodernism." Baudrillard's key ideas
include two that are often used in discussing
postmodernism in the arts: "simulation" and "the
hyperreal." The hyperreal is "more real than real":
something fake and artificial comes to be more
definitive of the real than reality itself. Examples
include high fashion (which is more beautiful than
beauty), the news ("sound bites" determine
outcomes of political contests), and Disneyland
(see below).
A "simulation" is a copy or imitation that
substitutes for reality. Again, the TV speech
of a political candidate, something staged
entirely to be seen on TV, is a good example.
A cynical person might say that the wedding
now exists (for many people) in order for
videos and photos to be made—having a
"beautiful wedding" means that it looks good
in the photos and videos! Baudrillard often
writes in an exaggerated or hyperbolic style
(following his philosophical forefather
Friedrich Nietzsche), so that it is hard to
know whether he is serious or tongue-in-
cheek. (Perhaps it does not matter!)
9. Lyotard soon abandoned the term ‘paganism’ in favour of
‘postmodernism.’ He presents his initial and highly
influential formulation of postmodernism in The
Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge,
commissioned by the government of Quebec and
published in 1979. Lyotard famously defines the
postmodern as ‘incredulity towards metanarratives,’
where metanarratives are understood as totalising
stories about history and the goals of the human race
that ground and legitimise knowledges and cultural
practises.
The two metanarratives that Lyotard sees as having
been most important in the past are (1) history as
progressing towards social enlightenment and
emancipation, and (2) knowledge as progressing
towards totalisation. Modernity is defined as the age
of metanarrative legitimation, and postmodernity as
the age in which metanarratives have become
bankrupt. Through his theory of the end of
metanarratives, Lyotard develops his own version of
what tends to be a consensus among theorists of the
postmodern – postmodernity as an age of
fragmentation and pluralism.
JEAN FRANCOIS
LYOTARD
11. Gene Veith Identifies a
series of characteristics
held by most
postmodernism
Social
Constructivism.
Meaning, morality and truth do
not exist objectively
Rejection of
Individual Identity
People exist as members of a
group, not as individuals
Cultural
Determinism
Individuals are shaped by their
culture.
Denial of the
Transcendent.
There are no absolutes in
postmodernism
Rejection of
Humanism
The modernistic concepts of
human creativity, autonomy of the
individual
Power
Reductionism
Revolutionary Critique
of the Existing Order.
All institutions, human
relationships, and moral values
are masks for power.
The modern society needs to be
replaced.
12. Postmodern
literature
builds on the
following
core ideas
Embrace of
randomness.
Postmodern works reject the idea of absolute meaning and instead embrace randomness and
disorder. Postmodern novels often employ unreliable narrators to further muddy the waters with
extreme subjectivity and prevent readers from finding meaning during the story.
Fragmentation
Postmodernist literature took modernism’s
fragmentation and expanded on it, moving
literary works more toward collage-style
forms, temporal distortion, and significant
jumps in character and place.
Playfulness
While modernist writers mourned the loss of
order, postmodern writers revel in it, often
using tools like black humor, wordplay, irony,
and other techniques of playfulness to dizzy
readers and muddle the story.
Metafiction Intertextuality
Postmodern literature emphasized meaninglessness
and play. Postmodern writers began to experiment
with more meta elements in their novels and short
stories, drawing attention to their work’s artifice and
reminding readers that the author isn’t an authority
figure.
As a form of collage-style writing, many postmodern
authors wrote their work overtly in dialogue with other
texts. The techniques they employed included pastiche
(or imitating other authors’ styles) and the combination
of high and low culture (writing that tackles subjects
that were previously considered inappropriate for
literature).
14. Barth wrote an essay of literary criticism titled The
Literature of Exhaustion (1967), detailing all writing
as imitation and considered by many to be the
manifesto of postmodern literature. Barth’s fourth
novel, Giles Goat-Boy (1966), is a prime example of
the metafiction characteristic of postmodernism,
featuring several fictional disclaimers in the
beginning and end, arguing that the book was not
written by the author and was instead given to the
author on a tape or written by a computer.
John Barth
15. Beckett’s “theatre of the absurd” emphasized the
disintegration of narrative. In the play Waiting for
Godot (1953), Beckett creates an entire existential
narrative featuring two characters who contemplate
their day as they wait for the ambiguous Godot to
appear. However, he never arrives, and his identity
is not revealed.
SAMUEL BECKETT
16. Following an advertising executive in New York
during the Nixon era, DeLillo’s Underworld (1997) is
an exceptionally fragmented narrative, exploring
the rise of global capitalism, the decline of
American manufacturing, the CIA, and civil rights,
and other themes. White Noise (1985) reframes
postmodernism through consumerism, bombarding
characters with meaninglessness.
Don delillo
17. postmodernism is that they do not complement each
other, respect humans as individuals with all
the uniqueness that is in them and the diversity that is
included weakness and strength is a plus value and
unique, that thing make difference from the others. It is
not for us to make an issue of the diversity but how it is
become a joy and uniqueness of what is owned.
CONCLUSION
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