Postmodernism is a complex cultural phenomenon that emerged after World War II, characterized by its critique of societal conventions, consumerism, and grand narratives, while employing techniques like skepticism, irony, and fragmentation. It challenges traditional notions of identity, meaning, and the distinctions between reality and hyperreality, emphasizing the constructed nature of knowledge and authority. Notable theorists associated with postmodernism include Nietzsche, Derrida, and Foucault, who explore themes of loss, ambiguity, and the fluidity between the self and 'the other'.

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?