Postmodernism

LectureSix:Lyotard &thePostmodern

WhatisPostmodern? A label shrugged by those who are defining it Contemplating the modern in its most subversive form;theorising modern and its symptoms

Dismantling the metanarrative of Modernism Ifthemoderndesignatestheeraofemancipationandknowledge,consensusandtotalities,thenthepostmodernmarksanattitudeofdisbelieftowardsthemodern.(JeanFrancoisLyotard)

Itisnot Irepeatnot anepochthatcomesafterthemodern.ForLyotard,thepostmoderniswhatismostradicalandirritatinginthemodern,whatoffendsthecanonsofgoodtaste:itinsistsonpresentingwhatwecannotconceptualize,whatwecannotfindinourexperience.

ImportantEventsfrom19452000 RiseofColdWar Worlddividedintomilitaryblocks;clashofideologies

RiseofComintern andCommunismspreadstotheworld(whichcountries?)

StalinandtheriseofIroncurtaininEastEurope

CivilwarstriggeredbyColdWar Korea(19501953),Vietnam(19651975),Afghanistan(1978),Iraq(1992)

Post World War economic boom; growingconsumerism

The counterculture movement political (CheGuevara, et al), cultural (Beatniks, rocknroll,Hippies, Woodstock)

1968 Students protest in Paris punctuated bydemonstrations and massive general strikes aswell as the occupation of universities and factoriesacross France; watershed moment in history; reverberated across theworld

Protest against capitalism, consumerism and traditionalinstitutions, values and order

Influencedothersocialpoliticalmovementslikefeminism,civilrightsmovement,gayrights,etc.

PostWorldWarII endofimperialismwithcoloniesattainingindependence

Recuperatinghistoryandonespastforthecolonies

Riseofnewtechnologieslikecomputersandinternet cyborg

Theevershrinkingglobalvillage