Postmodernism encompasses developments in many fields starting in the 1940s. Postmodern literature emerged as a reaction to modernism, with no single agreed upon definition. It is characterized by cultural pluralism, skepticism of grand narratives, and themes of irony, pastiche, metafiction, and paranoia. Influential postmodern authors using these techniques include Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, and Tim O'Brien. Their notable works such as Catch-22, Slaughterhouse Five, and The Things They Carried incorporate these postmodern concepts and ideas.

1. Postmodernism
Authors and
Literature
Muhammad Saud Kharal
PhD in Social Science,
Department of Sociology Faculty of Social
and Political Sciences, Universitas
Airlangga, Surabaya Indonesia

2. What is Postmodernism?
• Postmodernism is a term that encompasses a
wide-range of developments in philosophy, film,
architecture, art, literature, and culture.
• Originally a reaction to modernism, referring to
the lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought
or organized principle.
• Started around 1940s, exact date is unknown.
• Peaked around the 1960s and 1970s with the
release of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five

3. Postmodern Literature
• What is it?
- Used to describe the different aspects of
post WW2 literature (modernist literature).
- There is not a clear and defined definition of
postmodernism because of the little
agreement of the concepts and
characteristics and ideas within
postmodernism.

4. Postmodernist
Literature
• Postmodernist Literature contains a
broad range of concepts and ideas
that include:
- responses to modernism and its ideas
- responses to technological advances
- greater diversity of cultures that leads to cultural
pluralism. (small groups within a larger society
maintain their culture identity).
- reconceptualizations of society and history

5. Postmodern Literature
• There are a few similarities to modernist
literature.
- Like modernist literature, both are usually told from an
objective or omniscient point of view.
- Both literatures explore the external reality to examine
the inner states of consciousness of the characters
- Both employ fragmentation in narrative and character
construction

6. Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Irony, playfulness, black
humor
- Example: The Crying Lot of 49, Pynchon
uses childish wordplay while discussing
serious subjects. An example of his
wordplay can be found in the names of his
characters: Mike Fallopian, Stanley
Koteks, Mucho Maas, and Dr. Hilarius.

7. Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• patIche
- Authors often combine multiple elements in
the postmodern genre.
Example: Pynchon includes elements from
science fiction, pop culture references,
and detective fiction to create fictional
cultures and concepts.

8. Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• metafIctIon
- Writing about writing, often used to undermine
the authority of the author and to advance
stories in unique ways.
Example: In Italo Calvino’s novel, If On a Winter’s
Night a Traveler, is about a reader attempting to
read a novel of the same name. In Kurt
Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five, the first
chapter is about the writing process of the novel.

9. Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Paranoia
-The belief that there is something out of the
ordinary, while everything remains the
same.
Example: In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel,
Breakfast of Champions, a character
becomes violent when he imagines
everyone else as a robot and he is the
only human.

10. Postmodern Literature:
Influential works
• Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
• Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
• Lost in the Funhouse – John Barth
• The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
• White Noise – Don DeLillo
• Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
• The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon

11. Postmodern Authors
• Joseph Heller
- Born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn,
New York
- Known for his post World War
satires and playwrights
- Catch 22 most well-known of
his works
- Other works include:
Something Happened, Good
as Gold, and Closing Time.
- Also wrote plays: We Bombed
in New Haven, Catch 22,
Clevinger’s Trail

12. Postmodern Authors
• Thomas Pynchon
- Born May 8, 1937 in Glen
Cove, New York.
- Known for his fictional writing
over many different subjects
that include: science,
mathematics, and history
- Known for his early works: V,
The Crying of Lot 49, and
Gravity’s Rainbow.
- Also wrote essays concerning
diverse topics such as missile
security and Watts Riots ( a
large scale riot that lasted six
days in the Watt’s
neighborhood of LA).

13. Postmodern Authors
• Kurt Vonnegut
- Born November 11, 1922 in
Indianapolis, Indiana
- Known for using Patiche in
his works. Blends satire,
black comedy, and science
fiction to create novels, such
as Slaughterhouse Five and
Breakfast of Champions.
- As a former soldier and
prisoner of war, many of his
experiences influenced his
later works.

14. Postmodern Authors
• Tim O’Brien
- Born October 1, 1946 in Austin,
Minnesota
- His career began with the
release of If I Die in a Combat
Zone, Box Me Up and Ship me.
Wrote mainly about his
experiences in the Vietnam War
- O’Brien uses fiction and reality
and blends them into his own
genre. He labels his works
fiction, however, he uses his
situations he experienced in his
works.
- Most famous work: The Things
They Carried

15. References
• "Joseph Heller." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 19 Mar 2008, 05:42 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Joseph_Heller&oldid=199280810>.
• "Kurt Vonnegut." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 18:26 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Kurt_Vonnegut&oldid=199877168>
• "List of postmodern authors." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Mar 2008, 12:37
UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=List_of_postmodern_authors&oldid=197215707>.
• "Postmodern literature." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 16:46 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Postmodern_literature&oldid=199856493>.
• "Thomas Pynchon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Mar 2008, 14:23 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Thomas_Pynchon&oldid=198410127>.