English 1057 Modernism & Post- Modernism

Traditional Approach Let’s show things as they really are, or as they could be in Heaven. Our art will show truth, and it will be beautiful and please God. Modernist Approach Traditional ideas are bad; they nearly destroyed the world. Realism is boring. Let’s show things as we see and feel them inside, and that will be closer to the truth. Postmodern Approach There is no single truth; there are just ideas society agreed on. If we realize this and make our own meaning in our art, it will be more honest.

Romanticism → Realism → Modernism (about ) → Postmodernism What is literary “modernism”? A style of writing which rejected traditional and conventional methods and saw the experience of reality as individualistic, subjective, non- chronological, and often irrational.

Origins of modernism A decline in religious certainty and of man’s special and divine nature (Darwin) A decline in confidence in progress (WW I) A decline in confidence in rationality (Freud; Henri Bergson; William James) Influences from art (impressionism)

Characteristics of modernism Dark and pessimistic Stream-of-consciousness Nonsensical or ridiculous Playful and Experimental Strongly linked to Paris

Cezanne The Seine at Bercy (1878)

Renoir The Boating Party (1881)

Monet Sunrise (1874) Impressionis m

Munch The Scream (1893) Expressionis m

Picasso Les Demoiselles d‘Avignon (1907) Cubism

Ernst The Elephant Celebes (1921) Surrealism

Gertrude Stein The presentation of experience in the present continuous non-linear and non- chronological Contradictory and unreliable

Characteristics of late modernism Strongly existentialist Affected by WWII, Holocaust, and bombings of Japan Urban and intellectual Centered more on USA (Chicago, NY)

Late Modernis t Painting

Late Modernism in Art - Art made from industrial objects - Beyond paint

Late Modernism in Art - Angles and cubes still popular - Abstract symbolism

Robert Rauschenberg

Late Modernism in Music Dave Brubeck – Time Out (1959) Pierre Schafer – Apostrophe (1948) John Cage – A Flower (1950) Dave Brubeck – Time Out (1959) Pierre Schafer – Apostrophe (1948) John Cage – A Flower (1950)

Existentialism John-Paul Sartre ( ) - Discussed by German / English / French philosophers in the late 1800s and 1900s - Popular after WW II - Existence happens before meaning - The “angst” or fear of living - Meaning must be constructed - Absurdity: Things only mean something if we decide they do

“Theatre of the Absurd” Waiting for Godot (1953) – Samuel Beckett “Let's go." "We can't." "Why not?" "We're waiting for Godot.” Two beggars state that they need to stay by a tree to wait for “Godot,” not knowing who/what this is. At the end they decide to commit suicide, having no reason to do anything.

“Theatre of the Absurd” “The characters in Absurdist drama are lost and floating in an incomprehensible universe and they abandon rational devices and discursive thought because these approaches are inadequate.” …Or no characters at all: Beckett’s “Breath” (1969) – a 25 second play. The breakdown of communication leads to silence.

Post-structuralism Post-structuralism can be said to be a linguistic school of postmodernism. Jacques Derrida (1930-) popularized the academic analysis of language as meaning constructed by signs (semiotics, deconstructionism). Post- structuralism argues: The meaning of words is unstable and unfixed Meaning doesn’t exist in words because words just define themselves by comparison to other words A deeper analysis of what words mean is necessary to construct a better system of language

Postmodernism Postmodernism is a revolt against the idea that there is a single unifying truth to discover at all. A rejection of objective truth; what we understand as ‘truth’ and ‘reason’ is only a social construct which nations (often oppressive, dominant ones) force on others The self isn’t any better at finding truth; it’s just a social idea Technology and science are mostly ideologies which perpetuate the idea that rationality exists. Postmodern feminism: gender doesn’t exist; it’s just a social idea

Sounds depressing. But: Postmodernism can also be liberating for artists as it continues to reject some of the assumptions which modernism still kept: Modernism still retained the idea of high and low art; postmodernism holds that comic books are just as much art as paintings and opera The artist is not obligated to “create” (as there’s nothing left to create), but can mash and mix all existing art freely (pastiche) Plural versions of reality and narration can be mixed in literature and narrative The artist is more open to non-western ideas of indefiniteness (either/or/and) as well as foreign cultural ideas generally The architecture is richer and fuller (“less is a bore!”)

Why else? Because it’s fun. Modernism… can be boring

Criticisms of postmodernism Many scientists reject postmodernism, arguing that a rejection of the possibility of truth and reason makes scientific conclusions impossible Many theologians reject postmodernism, arguing that a society with no consistent morality at all has no basis or possibility of surviving Many critics argue that postmodernism doesn’t actually stand for anything; it mostly denies meaning or truth The music and art can be difficult, inaccessible, and pretentious Postmodernism can be ‘parasitic’ in that it doesn’t necessarily create anything new; it just re-uses older art

Postmodernism in literature If our own experience of reality is incomplete, and there isn’t any actual truth anyway, how can stories be written? Postmodern narrators (first or third person) can be unclear or contradictory (A Pale View of Hills) or dishonest (The Satanic Verses); there may be unclear or multiple endings (Crying of Lot 49) Magical realism (A Hundred Years of Solitude, Pedro Paramo), where the magical/impossible is treated as routine Intertextuality: The text may refer to other texts, admit itself as a text, or move between genres Temporal distortion: The text may jump between time or present a fragmented and incomplete version of chronology