1. Post-Modernism: The Amorphous Literary Movement
Time Frame: Post World War II – Present day

2. Post-Modernism
Since we are subjects in this movement, it is therefore difficult to be objective enough to define it. However, there are some characteristics and themes that permeate many of the literary works that follow World War II.

3. Post-modernism
Postmodernism in literature is not an organized movement with leaders or central figures; therefore, it is more difficult to say if it has ended or when it will end (compared to, say, declaring the end of modernism with the death of Joyce or Woolf).

4. Post-Modernism
Started as a reaction to war (WWII and Korean War) in the 1950’s
Most say it peaked in the 60’s and 70’s.
Some declared the death of Post- Modernism in the 80’s when there was a new surge of realism.
Some say it is still going strong. . .

5. Characteristics of Post-Modernism
Man vs. Society
Disrespect for human rights
Irony
Confusion
Fear and Paranoia
Self-preservation
The thin line between sanity and insanity
Black/Dark humor

6. Characteristics of Post-Modernism
Fragmentation-playfulness
Paradox (contradiction)
Questionable narrators
No central narrative arc
Does not conclude with the neatly tied-up ending
Pastiche (combine or paste together multiple elements or genres, imitate or parody)

7. Famous Post Modern Authors
Allen Ginsberg-Poet-Howl-regarded as a founding father of the Beat Movement
Paul Auster- author and director blends absurdism, existentialism and crime fiction and a search for identity and personal meaning
John Hawkes-novelist
Philip Dick-Science Fiction
Ken Kesey-novelist-essayist-counter-culture figure-One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

8. Ken kesey
Considered a link between Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 60s.
Credited with ushering in the era of psychedelic drugs in the 60s.
Often wrote under the influence of LSD
Influenced by Jack Kerouac’s On The Road