Literary Post-modernism A Mad Dash

What is postmodernism? Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward meta narratives. This incredulity is undoubtedly a product of progress in the sciences: but that progress in turn presupposes it.... The narrative function is losing its functions, its great hero, its great dangers, its great voyages, its great goal. It is being dispersed in clouds of narrative language elements–narrative, but also denotative, prescriptive, descriptive, and so on [...] Where, after the meta narratives, can legitimacy reside? – Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Conditioni

One of the best ways to understand postmodernism is to contrast it with modernism Attitudes toward perception and subjectivity Attitudes toward objectivity and “knowability” Attitudes toward fragmentation and disorder Attitudes toward belief systems Attitudes toward alienation, outsider status, “Other-ness” Global, macro vs. local, micro focuses

Perception and Subjectivity Modernism Postmodernism An emphasis on HOW seeing (or reading) takes place Example: Stream-of-consciousness, Imagist poetry There is no reality, only constructs or simulacra Therefore all perceptions are constructed and potentially fallible

Objectivity and “Knowability” Modernism Postmodernism Everything is subjective, so no position is essentially “truer” or “better” than any other. “Incredulity” about master narratives. Movement away from omniscience, fixed points of view, clear-cut moral and aesthetic positions

Fragmentation and Disorder Modernism Postmodernism Fragmentation is something tragic, to be mourned. Works of art struggle to preserve some coherence & unity. Fragmentation is good! Let’s scramble the pieces and see what we get! “Bricolage”—assembling the pieces (however)

Belief Structures Modernism Postmodernism Since all beliefs are constructs and master narratives are invalid, we can substitute new ones for old and stop worrying about it. Faith turns into doubt and despair: “Things fall apart; / The center cannot hold.” Failure of master narratives causes despair, cynicism.

Status re: the mainstream Modernism Postmodernism “Others” outside the mainstream look at society from beyond the Pale. Tension between longing to belong and rebellion. It’s great to be an outsider! Celebrate and use what makes you different! Post-colonial, regional, gender-based studies

Spheres of Interest Modernism Postmodernism National institutions, commodities, values, beliefs Urban, manufactured, post-Romantic Multinational, multi-ethnic, marketing, consumerism, “cultural capital” Urban or eco-, local rather than large-scale

Nuala ní Dhomhnaill “Why I Choose to Write in Irish” 30% of Irish population claim to be speakers of Irish (not counting No. Ireland) Not taught officially; English is stressed. Need to recover the history and influence of writing in Irish to express Irish identity, Irish concerns. “I had chosen my language, or more rightly, perhaps…the language had chosen me.” (1398)

Ngugi wa Thiong’o “Decolonizing the Mind” Colonial system in Kenya rewarded Kenyan children for becoming fluent in British English, not in their tribal languages. “Africa actually enriches Europe: but Africa is made to believe that it needs Europe to rescue it.” (p. 1409) Power of language to define individual identity. Oppressed peoples must learn to use their own languages, not just the oppressor’s.