confused! what exactly is postmodernism? (1 Viewer)

[yennie B]

so i checked out so many sites but there principles on postmodernism is confusing.

does anyone have any detailed sites on post modernism?

or have a shot at explaining it?

 

[veloc1ty]

It's not surprising you're confused, because post-modernism as a whole is hard to define and categorize.

It also depends on the medium. For example, I define post-modernist literature as clever for the sake of being clever. >_>

 

[yennie B]

It's not surprising you're confused, because post-modernism as a whole is hard to define and categorize.

It also depends on the medium. For example, I define post-modernist literature as clever for the sake of being clever. >_>

you sound really familiar ! do i know you in the 'real ' world lol>?

 

[Trebla]

I'm going use the explanation from 'The Simpsons'
"Weird for the sake of being weird"

lol

The main idea is basically the rebellion of current traditions and conventions because these traditions and conventions are seen as outdated and there is the need to "move on" to reshape the human environment over time (with arts, music, literature etc). So basically, someone with a postmodern view of the world would have attitudes and values against those of the mainstream society (basically a rebel).

Anyway, that's how a friend explained postmodernism to me....lol

 

[Jachie]

Postmoderism operates as a catchy-cry to describe the whole condition of the world in the late 20th century. It is resolutely diverse and multiple, but also historical, and therefore acknowledges the heritage of its own critical culture (modernism) and defines itself by what it is not. Some key concepts are:

- death of the Enlightenment's grand narratives of truth and order
- death of the authority of the canon, and its power to control discoure
- death of the individual and the stable self
- the birth of global communities
- the reign of poly vocality
- the loss of the 'real' through the birth of technology and its simulations

Literary postmodernism has a few discernible stylistic characterstics, including a tendency to be non-traditional and anti-authoritarian, and to oppose conventional processes of signification.

 

[evolution]

Post Modernism explores deeper into a particular context such as feminism, psychoanalysis, etc.

 

[ur_inner_child]

I think a lot of the confusion is not only the concept itself, but to differentiate what postmodernism is as an ideology, as a way of "reading", as well as what the postmodern techniques are in literature/art.

If people can identify that for you, it may help.

 

[tommykins]

my understanding of it is defining modernism first.

modernism = break from tradition, ie. techniques used in art. it was a break from victorian tradition of doing things.

postmodernism = exactly as it says, "after" modernism, a break from mdoernism.

An example can be - the death of a loved one, expressed in a photo.
victorian - self-portrait, gloomy, dull.
modernism - tragic, more variety, may be juxtaposed/contrast, different colours. overall sadness of the death.
POSTmodernism - celebrates their life, bright. luminous, etc.

Im' not sure if im correct, but thats what i established during a 30 minute research ont he topic.

what beats me is, if postmodernism becomes the mainstream "view", would postmodernism be then modernism and any contrasting view of the previous postmodernism BE postmodernism when that postmodernism is modernism now?

tad confusing, hope i said it right. LOL

 

[dan.121212]

"postmodernism comes...after..modernism" lol thats all we learnt in english this year - we also analysed ho the matric i is pomo (postmodern)

postmodernism, in essence, defies definition as it is basically the concept that says the RESPONDER has ultimate authority on meaning, rather than the COMPOSER , and with that, u can 'read into' texts, as everyone has a different cultural/historic background and the text is written/read in differnet contexts, which leads to the concept that it is the responder who is authoratative as to what a text means - in saying that a text can mean something different to one person, than to another

however as a 'movement' pomo (postmodernism) rejects modernism, obviously, but what does that mean?

well, modernism in teh early twentieth century placed hope in science, so a major understanding in modernism is that science is teh key and the answer to all our questions, that is:

science can provide us with the answers to life, and thus there are absolute truths


however, postmodernism rejects this,with the understanding that maybe science does not hold ALL the answers for humanity, and there certainly ARE NOT any absolute truths

some charactersitics of postmodernism are:
-Blurring of the boundaries between facta nd fiction
-questions of 'reality'
-pastiche (googleif u dont understand)
-self-reflexive - the text reflects on itself as a text, eg a book making a comment on writing books/stories, that is to say "questions itself as a construct"
-rejects the authority of the composer in the construction of the narrative - responders make the meaning, often signified by ending a text with a question, or putting forward a question to readers
-avoids grand/meta narratives of other texts- that is it does not have universal themes, eg love, but rather focuses on specific themes

these are but a few, we analysed life of pi and teh matrix as pomo, so if u have any q's relating to them,PM me