English 1061 Late & Post-modernism & Pale View of Hills (1982)

Late Modernism (about 1930-60 (70?) Reminder: 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.

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

Art of the Holocaust

Late Modernist Painting

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

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

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

Postmodernism 1970- 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

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.

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!”)

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

Jacques Derrida, Literary Critic (1984): The treatment of atomic war in literature can only be a hypothesis, as its actual occurrence would destroy any semantic system capable of describing it.

Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-) Father was an oceanographer Born in Nagasaki; moved to England at age five Educated in Kent, East Anglia First novel 1982; seven in total so far Feels he has a very “mixed” cultural identity which is neither strongly Japanese nor English

Themes in his novels Ishiguro’s novels tend to have a strong post-modern style Time is jumbled and narration cuts back and forth Things aren’t clear; reality is inconsistent and subjective Bad memories are repressed and denied but “bubble up” E.g. Etsuko’s repression of memory after the bombings of Nagasaki

A Pale View of Hills (1982) Does Etsuko remember what happened? Or does she forget because she’s old? Or does she deliberately try to forget? Is she ashamed? Why is her daughter Nikki so hostile? Why does she leave Japan? Did everything she describes in Japan really happen, or is she confusing it with her own past? What does the novel mean?