1. Introduction to PostModernism
LI: Students will be introduced into the concept of postmodernism and how literature was affected by postmodernism
SC: Students will apply the key concepts of postmodernism to Slaughterhouse Five

2. Slaughterhouse Five

3. Slaughterhouse Five
Unit objectives: Essay or creative assignment that demonstrates how Slaughterhouse Five is a piece of postmodern literature = Your choice
Essential Questions:
What is postmodernism?
How did this form of expression come about and why was it a preferred method for some?

4. Structure
Quick Write
Questions
Quiz
Discussion
Classwork

5. Postmodernism
Postmodern literature is literature characterized by heavy reliance on techniques like fragmentation, paradox, and questionable narrators, and is often (though not exclusively) defined as a style or trend which emerged in the post–World War II era. Postmodern works are seen as a reaction against Enlightenment thinking and Modernist approaches to literature.

6. Postmodernism Reaction against a “wrong” All work has a cynical tone
About resistance
Hard to define but easy to spot
There is no truth
Postmodern literature uses ordinary literary devices and use those devices for different purposes than intended
Slaughterhouse Five is often seen as a prime example of postmodern literature

7. Utopia vs. Dystopia

8. Fragmentation
Various elements, concerning plot, characters, themes, imagery and factual references are fragmented and dispersed throughout the entire work.

9. Temporal distortion Part of fragmentation and non-linear narratives
Time may also overlap, repeat, or bifurcate into multiple possibilities

10. Metafiction Essentially writing about writing
Metafiction is often employed to undermine the authority of the author, for unexpected narrative shifts, to advance a story in a unique way, for emotional distance, or to comment on the act of storytelling.

11. Metafiction Examples

12. Black Humor and Irony
Humor that makes light of otherwise serious subject matter… for a purpose
It's common for postmodernists to treat serious subjects in a playful and humorous way.

13. Pastiche Means to combine, or "paste" together, multiple elements.
Postmodernist literature this can be an homage to or a parody of past styles. It can be seen as a representation of the chaotic, pluralistic, or information-drenched aspects of postmodern society.
Questioning of distinctions between high and low culture

14. Magic Realism
Literary work marked by the use of still, sharply defined, smoothly painted images of figures and objects depicted in a surrealistic manner.
The themes and subjects are often imaginary, somewhat outlandish and fantastic and with a certain dream-like quality.
The mingling and juxtaposition of the realistic and the fantastic or bizarre.

15. Technoculture and Hyperreality
In postmodernity people are inundated with information, technology has become a central focus in many lives, and our understanding of the real is mediated by simulations of the real.
Heavy reliance on science fiction in postmodernism.

16. Paranoia
The belief that there's an ordering system behind the chaos of the world is another recurring postmodern theme.
For the postmodernist, no ordering is extremely dependant upon the subject, so paranoia often straddles the line between delusion and brilliant insight.

17. Chapter 1
Next class: Kurt Vonnegut and the Bombing of Dresden