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Postmodernism???

Hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone could explain what exactly postmodernism is. I keep finding information about what postmodernism is not, but not an exact definition. ^o) :hmmm:

ohhh...these smilies are so cute, lol. Thank you so much!

Reply 1

slk999

15

I think, but am not totally sure, that it's the period around 1900-1940 ish...and such authors include James Joyce and Virginia Woolf- and is called as such because of the style of writing they used- namely the stream of conciousness.
Correct me if I'm wrong! :smile:

Reply 2

Tyler Durden

17

Joyce and Woolf are actually generally considered to be (high) modernists. To the OP: if you want to find out more I'd recommend the chapter called Postmodernism in Peter Barry's book Beginning Theory.

Reply 3

slk999

15

englishstudent

Joyce and Woolf are actually generally considered to be (high) modernists. To the OP: if you want to find out more I'd recommend the chapter called Postmodernism in Peter Barry's book Beginning Theory.

What do you mean by 'high' modernists? So can you define postmodernism? I was told by my old english teacher- and I would tend to believe her as she has a Dr thing and what have you- that the method of prose in 'Dracula' was an example of the postmodernist movement?

Reply 4

ryunhua

quote Google:

Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas, one that has only emerged as an area of academic study since the mid-1980s. Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's hard to locate it temporally or historically, because it's not clear exactly when postmodernism begins. Perhaps the easiest way to start thinking about postmodernism is by thinking about modernism.

Reply 5

slk999

15

ryunhua

quote Google:

Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas, one that has only emerged as an area of academic study since the mid-1980s. Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's hard to locate it temporally or historically, because it's not clear exactly when postmodernism begins. Perhaps the easiest way to start thinking about postmodernism is by thinking about modernism.

Good work, but really- Google are really awful at definitions. 'It's hard to define'- yes, well Google, that is your job remember! 'But it's quite difficult to define' - just define it and stop complaining Google!!
Sorry about that- only it's an awful piece of reference, but quite useful all the same! :smile:

Reply 6

buttons7

1

postmodernism is quite a difficult concept. woolf and joyce, although they themselves began to engage with post-modernist ideas, are generally thought of as modernists. which are different. umm i had a long and very painful-on-the-mind seminar on postmodernism a couple of weeks ago, so i could probably write you an essay on it, but not explain it quickly. the simplest definition of postmodernism that i came across was in good ol' bennet and royle (their major text, an introduction to literary criticism/theory or whatever has a really good chapter on it - you should be able to find it in most libraries and bookshops as its a major uni text).

Reply 7

buttons7

1

ryunhua

quote Google:

Postmodernism is a complicated term, or set of ideas, one that has only emerged as an area of academic study since the mid-1980s. Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. It's hard to locate it temporally or historically, because it's not clear exactly when postmodernism begins. Perhaps the easiest way to start thinking about postmodernism is by thinking about modernism.

i wouldn't say so. i found it easier to look back at modernism after reading discussions of postmodernism. obviously, they have some areas of contrast, but its easier to deal with postmodernism on its own, in my opinion.

Reply 8

slk999

15

So could you give us an idea of some relevant authors of that genre?

Reply 9

Da Bachtopus

12

It's very postmodernist to claim that earlier texts already manifest postmodernism, 'Dracula' in your example. Obviously this should be taken with a pinch of salt, and does not mean that 'postmodernism' has always been with us. It effectively begins in the 1960s, though you can make a case that 'Finnegans Wake', or even earlier modernist texts, are (always) already postmodern.

Big-name critics are the likes of Derrida, Lacan, (later) Barthes, Kristeva, Foucault. Milan Kundera seems a pretty good example of a postmodern novelist.

Reply 10

slk999

15

Da Bachtopus

It's very postmodernist to claim that earlier texts already manifest postmodernism, 'Dracula' in your example. Obviously this should be taken with a pinch of salt, and does not mean that 'postmodernism' has always been with us. It effectively begins in the 1960s, though you can make a case that 'Finnegans Wake', or even earlier modernist texts, are (always) already postmodern.

Big-name critics are the likes of Derrida, Lacan, (later) Barthes, Kristeva, Foucault. Milan Kundera seems a pretty good example of a postmodern novelist.

Would you say that Thomas Pynchon could be included?

Reply 11

Da Bachtopus

12

Yes.

Reply 12

slk999

15

Da Bachtopus

Yes.

Good. I read the Crying of Lot 49 last summer and thought it was really good- as in well written, but the plot was really strange- It took me a long time to understand it all!

Reply 13

buttons7

1

rich_

So could you give us an idea of some relevant authors of that genre?

tricky, as it's hard to identify anyone as, categorically speaking, postmodernist. indeed, it's easier (again) to look at it retrospectively, to see the postmodern influences in people's writing after you know what postmodernism means. as da bachtopus says, that is a postmodern thing to do... but then it's all about the future perfect. it's not like romanticism or neo-classicism or even modernism, it just seems to be something that manifests itself in people's work - a way of thinking rather than a movement of literature. however, from what i know, people like samuel beckett, angela carter and harold pinter all engage with postmodernism; whilst i've also heard references to texts like 'perfume' (suskind) and 'waterland' (swift) in essays on postmodernism. i know it sounds a bit feeble, but the way i understood it was through reading about it as a concept (bennet and royle, bennet and royle, bennet and royle), and afterwards applying it to the literature that i was studying.

Reply 14

Toscar

11

what relationship does louis de bernieres have with post modernism?

Reply 15

ninjblah

OP

thank you everyone for your help!

Reply 16

spacedonkey

2

I like this definition, by Penn Hughes (found on http://www.california.com/~rathbone/pm100802.htm)

Premodern: faith in a doctrine, informed by reason and conversation
Modern: faith in reason, informed by doctrine and conversation
Postmodern: faith in conversation, informed by doctrine and reason.

Postmodernism???

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