This is a first-day introduction to Postmodernism for graduate students, introducing relevant terms and comparing Postmodernism to Modernism.

1. What is
Postmodernism?

2. O Postmodernism:

3. O Postmodernism:
O Is NOT a unified movement;

4. O Postmodernism:
O Is NOT a unified movement;
O Varies widely in time and space;

5. O Postmodernism:
O Is NOT a unified movement;
O Varies widely in time and space;
O Is very difficult to define;

6. O Postmodernism:
O Is NOT a unified movement;
O Varies widely in time and space;
O Is very difficult to define;
O Is both a continuation of and reaction
against Modernism;

7. O Postmodernism:
O Is NOT a unified movement;
O Varies widely in time and space;
O Is very difficult to define;
O Is both a continuation of and reaction
against Modernism;
O Generally speaking, began after World War
II and peaked after the 1968 student
uprisings in Paris.

8. What Does Postmodernism
Tend to Critique?

9. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;

10. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;

11. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;
O Totalizing theories;

12. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;
O Totalizing theories;
O “Metanarratives” or master narratives;

13. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;
O Totalizing theories;
O “Metanarratives” or master narratives;
O The idea of progress;

14. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;
O Totalizing theories;
O “Metanarratives” or master narratives;
O The idea of progress;
O Imperialism;

15. O Postmodernism tends to critique:
O Conventions of society, literature and other
arts, and philosophy;
O Consumerism;
O Totalizing theories;
O “Metanarratives” or master narratives;
O The idea of progress;
O Imperialism;
O REASON (identified with power and
control)

16. What Techniques Does
Postmodernism Use to
Critique Reason?

17. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;

18. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;

19. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;
O Fragmentation of the self;

20. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;
O Fragmentation of the self;
O Identity as a construct;

21. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;
O Fragmentation of the self;
O Identity as a construct;
O Paradox;

22. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;
O Fragmentation of the self;
O Identity as a construct;
O Paradox;
O Surface over depth, play;

23. O Postmodernism privileges:
O Uncertainty, indeterminacy;
O Relativism, perspectivism;
O Fragmentation of the self;
O Identity as a construct;
O Paradox;
O Surface over depth, play;
O Fluidity over binary oppositions;

24. O The “Other” over the self;

25. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;

26. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;
O Periphery over center;

27. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;
O Periphery over center;
O Difference;

28. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;
O Periphery over center;
O Difference;
O Ambiguity;

29. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;
O Periphery over center;
O Difference;
O Ambiguity;
O Marginality;

30. O The “Other” over the self;
O Chance, coincidence, the arbitrary;
O Periphery over center;
O Difference;
O Ambiguity;
O Marginality;
O The ”postcolonial”

31. Modernism vs. Postmodernism on Reason:
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl_258/
Lecture%20Notes/modernism_vs_postmode
rnism.htm

33. How Might Postmodernism
Critique Societal Conventions?

34. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;

35. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;

36. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;
O Deconstruction;

37. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;
O Deconstruction;
O Absurdism;

38. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;
O Deconstruction;
O Absurdism
O “Magic Realism”;

39. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;
O Deconstruction;
O Absurdism
O “Magic Realism”;
O Irreverence;

40. O Postmodernism may use:
O Skepticism;
O Irony;
O Deconstruction;
O Absurdism
O “Magic Realism”;
O Irreverence;
O Parody

41. How Does Postmodernism Go
Against Literary Convention?

42. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;

43. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;

44. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;

45. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;
O Disunity, pluralism;

46. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;
O Disunity, pluralism;
O Rejection of plot, characters, and/or
settings;

47. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;
O Disunity, pluralism;
O Rejection of plot, characters, and/or
settings;
O An unreliable narrator;

48. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;
O Disunity, pluralism;
O Rejection of plot, characters, and/or
settings;
O An unreliable narrator;
O Ambiguity;

49. O Postmodernism may use:
O EXPERIMENTATION;
O Digressions;
O Fragmentation;
O Disunity, pluralism;
O Rejection of plot, characters, and/or
settings;
O An unreliable narrator;
O Ambiguity;
O SELF-REFLEXIVITY

50. How is Postmodernism
Self-Reflexive?

51. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;

52. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;

53. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;
O Emphasize the fictionality of fiction;

54. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;
O Emphasize the fictionality of fiction;
O Play with intertextuality;

55. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;
O Emphasize the fictionality of fiction;
O Play with intertextuality;
O Be about its own creation or about writer’s
block;

56. O Postmodernism may:
O Be characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;
O Emphasize the fictionality of fiction;
O Play with intertextuality;
O Be about its own creation or about writer’s
block;
O Play with the boundaries of fiction and
reality;

57. O Postmodernism may:
O Be Characterized by metaliterariness;
O Be characterized by metanarrativity;
O Emphasize the fictionality of fiction;
O Play with intertextuality;
O Be about its own creation or about writer’s
block;
O Play with the boundaries of fiction and
reality;
O Undermine the authority of the author

58. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;

59. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;

60. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;
O Use unexpected narrative shifts;

61. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;
O Use unexpected narrative shifts;
O Use a nonlinear narrative;

62. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;
O Use unexpected narrative shifts;
O Use a nonlinear narrative;
O Leave narrative lacunae;

63. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;
O Use unexpected narrative shifts;
O Use a nonlinear narrative;
O Leave narrative lacunae;
O Privilege hybridity or pastiche;

64. O Encourage openness in interpretation,
especially in open endings;
O Privilege play over purpose;
O Use unexpected narrative shifts;
O Use a nonlinear narrative;
O Leave narrative lacunae;
O Privilege hybridity or pastiche;
O PROBLEMATIZE WRITING, including
relations between author, narrator,
characters, and readers

65. How Does Postmodernism
Privilege Unreality?

66. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;

67. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;

68. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;

69. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;
O Insist on its own unreality;

70. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;
O Insist on its own unreality;
O Reject realism and psychology;

71. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;
O Insist on its own unreality;
O Reject realism and psychology;
O Emphasize the “simulacrum”;

72. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;
O Insist on its own unreality;
O Reject realism and psychology;
O Emphasize the “simulacrum”;
O Emphasize construction of the world
through language;

73. O Postmodernism may:
O Privilege hyperreality over reality;
O Privilege the artificial over the natural;
O Privilege the Web over the book;
O Insist on its own unreality;
O Reject realism and psychology;
O Emphasize the “simulacrum” and the
“spectacle”;
O Emphasize construction of the world through
language;
O Emphasize interpretation of the world through
the lens of literature

74. How Is Postmodernism
Concerned with Lack or Loss?

75. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;

76. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;

77. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;
O Memory;

78. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;
O Memory;
O Truth;

79. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;
O Memory;
O Truth;
O Meaning;

80. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;
O Memory;
O Truth;
O Meaning;
O A unified self;

81. O Postmodernism is concerned with the loss
or lack of:
O Knowledge;
O Origins;
O Memory;
O Truth;
O Meaning;
O A unified self;
O Referents outside language;

82. O Essence;

83. O Essence;
O Presence;

84. O Essence;
O Presence;
O Identity;

85. O Essence;
O Presence;
O Identity;
O Center;

86. O Essence;
O Presence;
O Identity;
O Center;
O A “transcendental signifier”

87. Summary of differences between
Modernism and Postmodernism:
http://www19.homepage.villanova.edu/karyn
.hollis/prof_academic/Courses/2043_pop/m
odernism_vs_postmodernism.htm

89. “The Top 20 Most Essential Postmodernist
Works”:
http://www.collegecrunch.org/books/20-
essential-works-of-postmodern-fiction/

90. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;

91. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;

92. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;

93. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;

94. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;
O Jean-François Lyotard;

95. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;
O Jean-François Lyotard;
O Mikhail Bakhtin;

96. A Few Important Theorists
O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;
O Jean-François Lyotard;
O Mikhail Bakhtin;
O Roland Barthes;

97. O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;
O Jean-François Lyotard;
O Mikhail Bakhtin;
O Roland Barthes;
O Guy Debord;

98. O Friedrich Nietzsche;
O Jacques Derrida;
O Michel Foucault;
O Jean Baudrillard;
O Jean-François Lyotard;
O Mikhail Bakhtin;
O Roland Barthes;
O Guy Debord;
O Fredric Jameson

99. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or
despair?

100. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or
despair?
O Are you more a Postmodernist or a
Modernist?

101. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or
despair?
O Are you more a Postmodernist or a
Modernist?
O How is Postmodernism different from
Postmodernity?

102. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or
despair?
O Are you more a Postmodernist or a
Modernist?
O How is Postmodernism different from
Postmodernity?
O Has Postmodernism had its day?

103. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or
despair?
O Are you more a Postmodernist or a
Modernist?
O How is Postmodernism different from
Postmodernity?
O Has Postmodernism had its day?
O What are the alternatives to
Postmodernism today?

104. Questions to Consider
O Does all of this lead to freedom or despair?
O Are you more a Postmodernist or a
Modernist?
O How is Postmodernism different from
Postmodernity?
O Has Postmodernism had its day?
O What are the alternatives to Postmodernism
today?
O How is Auster’s Travels in the Scriptorium
Postmodernist?