Introduction to Postmodernism

Why Reality Isnt What It Used to Be

Deconstructing Mrs. Miller

Questions
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What is postmodernism? Why should we care about it? Have you received a modern or postmodern education? What does postmodernism have to say about your identity? What does postmodernism have to say about truth, beauty, and goodness? How postmodernism is impacting K-12 education, religion, the arts, and our daily lives.

as

Timeline

Evolution of Western Thought

Naturalistic

Theocentric

Economic Humanistic
TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Timeline

Modernity
RENAISSANCE TO ABOUT 1900 (+/- 30 years)

Baudrillard:

Early modernity: Modernity:

Renaissance to Industrial Revolution Industrial Revolution

Postmodernity:

Period of mass media

The world according to white Anglo-Saxon males from Europe

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Timeline

Your Place in History

14th C

1900

2000

Modern

Modernism

Postmodernism

You are here

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Timeline

Your Place in History

as 14th C

1900

2000

Modern

Modernism

Postmodernism

Your teachers were / are here

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Newtonian Order

Modernity

God, reason and progress

There was a center to the universe.

Progress is based upon knowledge, and man is capable of discerning objective absolute truths in science and the arts. Modernism is linked to capitalismprogressive economic administration of world Modernization of 3rd world countries (imposition of modern Western values)

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

What Is Language?

Language & Truth

as

People are the same everywhere

There are universal laws and truths

Knowledge is objective, independent of culture, gender, etc.

Language is a man-made tool that refers to real things / truths

I, the subject, speak language I have a discernible self The self is the center of existence

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Purpose of Literature

Liberal Humanism: View of Literature

Good literature is of timeless significance.

The text will reveal constants, universal truths, about human nature, because human nature itself is constant and unchanging.

TRADITIONAL WESTERN MODERN THINKING

Death of the Old Order

Modernism

Early 1900s:

World War I
Worldwide poverty & exploitation

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Death of the Old Order

Modernism

Early 1900s:

World War I
Worldwide poverty & exploitation

Intellectual upheaval:

Freud: psychoanalysis Marx: class struggle Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Neitzsche Picasso, Stravinsky, Kafka, Proust, Brecht, Joyce, Eliot

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

The Bending of Time & Space

Relativism

Einstein: relativity, quantum mechanics

Refutation of Newtonian science

Time is relative Matter and energy are one Light as both particle and wave Universe is strange

E=mc2

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Breaking the Rules

Modernist Art

Cubism

Surrealism
Dadaism Expressionism

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Breaking the Rules

Modernist Art

Cubism

Surrealism
Dadaism Expressionism

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Breaking the Rules

Modernist Art

Cubism

Surrealism
Dadaism Expressionism

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Breaking the Rules

Modernist Art

Cubism

Surrealism
Dadaism Expressionism

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

A World with No Center

Modernist Literature
Things fall apart, The centre cannot hold, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. --Yeats, The Second Coming

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Breaking the Rules

Modernist Literature

Emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity Movement away from objective third-party narration Tendency toward reflexivity and selfconsciousness Obsession with the psychology of self Rejection of traditional aesthetic theories Experimentation with language

PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM

Acceptance of a New Age

What is Postmodernism?

Continuation of modernist view

Does not mourn loss of history, self, religion, center

A term applied to all human sciences anthropology, psychology, architecture, history, etc. Reaction to modernism; systematic skepticism Anti-foundational

POSTMODERNISM

Acceptance of a New Age

What is Postmodernism?

The Enlightenment project is dead.

POSTMODERNISM

Culture & Capital

Frederick Jameson

Modernism and postmodernism are cultural formations that accompany specific stages of capitalism 1. Market capitalism: 18th-19th C. Steam locomotive

Realism

2.

Monopoly capitalism: Late 19th C to WWII Electricity and automobile Modernism

3.

Multinational/consumer capitalism Nuclear and electronics

Postmodernism

POSTMODERNISM

The End of Master Narratives

Postmodernism: Basic Concepts

Life just is

Rejection of all master narratives

All truths are contingent cultural constructs Skepticism of progress; anti-technology bias Sense of fragmentation and decentered self Multiple conflicting identities Mass-mediated reality

POSTMODERNISM

The End of Master Narratives

Postmodernism: Basic Concepts

All versions of reality are SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS

Concepts of good and evil Metaphors for God

Language
The self Gender EVERYTHING!

POSTMODERNISM

Language As Social Construct

Postmodernism: Basic Concepts

Language is a social construct that speaks & identifies the subject Knowledge is contingent, contextual and linked to POWER Truth is pluralistic, dependent upon the frame of reference of the observer Values are derived from ordinary social practices, which differ from culture to culture and change with time. Values are determined by manipulation and domination
POSTMODERNISM

Relativism & Pluralism

Richard Rorty (1931-)

A pragmatic philosopher

Anti-foundationalist
No reality independent of our minds Truth is the result of inter-subjective agreement between members of a community We must choose between self-defeating relativism or solidarity of thought within our group

The goal of the search for truth is to help us carry out practical tasks and create a fairer and more democratic society
POSTMODERNISM

The Observer is King

Postmodern View of Language

Observer is a participant/part of what is observed

Receiver of message is a component of the message

Information becomes information only when contextualized The individual (the subject) is a cultural construct Consider role of own culture when examining others All interpretation is conditioned by cultural perspective and mediated by symbols and practice
POSTMODERNISM

Play and Parody

PostModern Literature

Extreme freedom of form and expression

Repudiation of boundaries of narration & genre

Intrusive, self-reflexive author Parodies of meta-narratives Deliberate violation of standards of sense and decency (which are viewed as methods of social control) Integration of everyday experience, pop culture

POSTMODERNISM

Fragmented Identities

PostModern Literature

Parody, play, black humor, pastiche

Nonlinear, fragmented narratives

Ambiguities and uncertainties Conspiracy and paranoia Ironic detachment Linguistic innovations Postcolonial, global-English literature

POSTMODERNISM

Binary Oppositions

Modernity

PostModern

History as fact

Written by the victors

Faith in social order

Family as central unit Authenticity of originals Mass consumption

Cultural pluralism
Alternate families Hyper-reality (MTV) Niches; small group identity

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

A gay Southern Baptist who practices Buddhist meditation and believes in the Big Bang theory.

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

Modern or Postmodern?

POSTMODERNISM

An Epochal Shift in Thinking

PostModernism

The narrative is unravelled, the author is dead, the Enlightenment project is toast, and history is history.

An epochal shift in the basic condition in being.

--Geoffrey Nunberg

POSTMODERNISM

Battle of World Views

PostModernism
A Global Battle: THE OBJECTIVISTS vs. THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS

POSTMODERNISM

My Way

PostModernism
OBJECTIVISTS
When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. How dare you maintain that those who believe in the JudeoChristian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, `Yes, they are.'

-from Pat Robertson's "The New World Order"

POSTMODERNISM

Metaphors Kill

PostModernism
People were burned at the stake for believing there was more than one version of reality.

POSTMODERNISM

God is Not Dead

PostModernism
Our public schools have become a postmodern battleground.

POSTMODERNISM

God is Not Dead

PostModernism
You can be a Christian (or Buddhist, or Hindu, etc.) in the postmodern world.

POSTMODERNISM

We Live in the Middle

PostModernism
We all slip and slide between the objective and constructive views:
1. We live in a world of nave realism. 2. But when we think about things, or have to explain our views, we become constructivists.

POSTMODERNISM

How Popular Culture Changes

as
RAYMOND WILLIAMS

Dominant ideology controls Human agency: people work together to bring about change Takes into account pluralism of a culture

POSTSTRUCTURALISM

Acceptance of Pluralism

How Popular Culture Changes

Playboy Bunnies & June Cleaver Monica in Friends Carrie in Sex & The City Samantha in Sex & The City

Courtney Love

Celebrating Diversity

PostModernism

THE HOPE OF POSTMODERNISTS:

The deconstruction of foundational views will lead to a recognition and acceptance of a pluralistic worldview. Create a truly global civilization.

POSTMODERNISM

Celebrating Diversity

Literary & FilmTheory

Different constructs of reality Lenses through which we see the world

POSTMODERNISM