introduction to postmodernism. questions what is postmodernism? 2.why should we care about it?...
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction toPostmodernism
QuestionsWhat is postmodernism?
2. Why should we care about it?
3. Have you received a modern or postmodern
education?
4. What does postmodernism have to say about your
identity?
5. What does postmodernism have to say about truth, beauty, and goodness?
Evolution of Western Thought
Timelineas
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Theocentric
Humanistic
Economic
Naturalistic
Modernity
RENAISSANCE TO ABOUT 1900 (+/- 30 years)
Baudrillard: Early modernity: Renaissance to Industrial
Revolution Modernity: Industrial Revolution Postmodernity: Period of mass media
The world according to white Anglo-Saxon males from Europe
Timeline
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Your Place in History
Timeline
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Modernism Postmodernism
14th C 1900 2000
You are here
Modernity
God, reason and progress
There was a center to the universe.
Progress is based upon knowledge, and man is capable of discerning objective absolute truths in science and the arts.
Modernism is linked to capitalism—progressive economic administration of world
Modernization of 3rd world countries (imposition of modern Western values)
Newtonian Order
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Liberal Humanism: View of Literature
Good literature is of timeless significance.
The text will reveal constants, universal truths, about human nature, because human nature itself is constant and unchanging.
Purpose of Literature
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Modernism
Early 1900s:
World War I
Worldwide poverty & exploitation
Intellectual upheaval:
Freud: psychoanalysis
Marx: class struggle
Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Neitzsche
Picasso, Stravinsky, Kafka, Proust, Brecht, Joyce, Eliot
Death of the Old Order
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Relativism
Einstein: relativity, quantum mechanics
Refutation of Newtonian science
Time is relative
Matter and energy are one
Light as both particle and wave
Universe is strange
The Bending of Time & Space
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
E=mc2
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Literature
“Things fall apart,The centre cannot hold,Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
“”
A World with No Center
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Literature Emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity
Movement away from “objective” third-party narration
Tendency toward reflexivity and self-consciousness
Obsession with the psychology of self
Rejection of traditional aesthetic theories
Experimentation with language
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
What is Postmodernism?
Continuation of modernist view
Does not mourn loss of history, self, religion, center
A term applied to all human sciences —anthropology, psychology, architecture, history, etc.
Reaction to modernism; systematic skepticism
Anti-foundational
Acceptance of a New Age
POSTMODERNISM
What is Postmodernism?
The Enlightenment project is dead.
Acceptance of a New Age
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism: Basic Concepts
Life just is
Rejection of all master narratives
All “truths” are contingent cultural constructs
Skepticism of progress; anti-technology bias
Sense of fragmentation and decentered self
Multiple conflicting identities
Mass-mediated reality
The End of Master Narratives
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism: Basic Concepts
All versions of reality are SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS
Concepts of good and evil
Metaphors for God
Language
The self
Gender
EVERYTHING!
The End of Master Narratives
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism: Basic Concepts
Language is a social construct that “speaks” & identifies the subject
Knowledge is contingent, contextual and linked to POWER
Truth is pluralistic, dependent upon the frame of reference of the observer
Values are derived from ordinary social practices, which differ from culture to culture and change with time.
Values are determined by manipulation and domination
Language As Social Construct
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodern View of Language
Observer is a participant/part of what is observed
Receiver of message is a component of the message
Information becomes information only when contextualized
The individual (the subject) is a cultural construct
Consider role of own culture when examining others
All interpretation is conditioned by cultural perspective and mediated by symbols and practice
The Observer is King
POSTMODERNISM
PostModern Literature Extreme freedom of form and expression
Repudiation of boundaries of narration & genre
Intrusive, self-reflexive author
Parodies of meta-narratives
Deliberate violation of standards of sense and decency (which are viewed as methods of social control)
Integration of everyday experience, pop culture
Play and Parody
POSTMODERNISM
PostModern Literature
Parody, play, black humor, pastiche
Nonlinear, fragmented narratives
Ambiguities and uncertainties
Conspiracy and paranoia
Ironic detachment
Linguistic innovations
Postcolonial, global-English literature
Fragmented Identities
POSTMODERNISM
Modernity PostModern
History as fact
Faith in social order
Family as central unit
Authenticity of originals
Mass consumption
Binary Oppositions
POSTMODERNISM
Written by the victors
Cultural pluralism
Alternate families
Hyper-reality (MTV)
Niches; small group identity
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
A Southern Baptist who practices Buddhist meditation and believes in the Big Bang theory.
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
THE HOPE OF POSTMODERNISTS:
The deconstruction of foundational views will lead to a recognition and acceptance of a pluralistic worldview.
Create a truly global civilization.
Celebrating Diversity
POSTMODERNISM
Literary & FilmTheory Different constructs of reality
“Lenses” through which we see the world
Celebrating Diversity
POSTMODERNISM
?