Last Name 1

Saim Rizwan (477)

Professor Momina Hafeez

Post-Colonial studies

October 6, 2019

Postmodern Literature: A Study of Postmodern Poetry and Postmodern Trends in A.K

Ramanujan’s Poems

POSTMODERN LITERATURE

Postmodern literature is a form of literature which relies both stylistically and

ideologically on certain literary conventions such as “fragmentation, paradox, unreliable

narrators, often un-realistic and downright impossible plots, games, parody, paranoia, dark

humor, and authorial self-reference.” ‘High’ and ‘low’ forms of art and literature as well as the

distinction between genre and forms of writing are the notions that are rejected by Postmodern

literature. (Sheeba 181)

Postmodern literatures and writers are greatly influenced by the post-modern philosophy.

They incorporated several movements and ideas that come from post-modern philosophy.

There are certain stylistic techniques that are often used in postmodern literature. They

are as follows:

Pastiche: New styles are made by taking and pasting together ideas from previous

writings and literary styles.

Intertextuality: The acknowledgement of previous literary works with another literary

work.

Metafiction: The act of writing about writing or making readers aware of the
 fictional nature of the very fiction they are reading.

Temporal distortion: It refers to the use of non-linear timelines and narrative techniques

in a story.

Minimalism: The use of characters and events which are decidedly common and non-

exceptional characters.

Maximalism: Disorganized, lengthy and highly detailed writing.

Magical Realism:  The introduction of impossible or unrealistic events into a narrative

that is otherwise realistic.

Reader Involvement: It is often through direct address to the reader and the open

acknowledgment of the fictional nature of the events being described.

Faction : The mixing of actual historical events with fictional events without clearly

defining what is factual and what is fictional.

Postmodern literary styles and ideas tend to dispute, mock and reverse the principles of

modernist literature.

“For example, instead of following the standard modernist literary quest for meaning in a

chaotic world, postmodern literature tends to eschew, often playfully, the very possibility of

meaning. The postmodern novel, story or poem is often presented as a parody of the modernist

literary quest for meaning. “Thomas Pynchon's postmodern novel The Crying of Lot 49 is a

perfect example of this. In this novel, the protagonist's quest for knowledge and understanding

results ultimately in confusion and the lack of any sort of clear understanding of the events that

transpired.” (Flemming, study.com)

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POSTMODERN POETRY

After World War 2, along with the nuclear bombing of Japan, the human race split the

atom, which is the center of everything, and in doing so, it created chaos. The contemporary

postmodernist poets reflect that chaos. (Hamilton, “Understanding Postmodern poetry”)

Postmodern poetry includes several modernist themes and many modernist themes taken

to new levels. The most significant indication of postmodern poetry is the “absence of a single

dominant style” (Norton 2649). Other characteristics of the postmodern poetry include, “Mix of

image with narrative, mix of image with discursive, precise observation, philosophical reflection,

open ended juxtaposition, multiple stories, alterations in point of view, digressions, no coherence

or closure, unexpected jumps and disjunctive thinking” (Norton 2647). Moreover, there is “an

apprehension of the invisible world, fragmentation” (Norton 2646), and a style that appears to be

a “poetic diary or journal” (Norton 2646).

T.S. Eliot, is one of those pioneers who brought this aesthetic form to the world of poetry.

This aesthetic form was full of complex twists and turns, fragmented language, and a sense of

alienation and loss. In his most famous poem, “The Wasteland”, Eliot attempts to lament as well

as celebrate the chaos of modern culture. The poem itself is fragmented and chaotic, which was

the very essence of modern society. The characters that he uses in this poem, are going through

extreme stress and anxiety which is indicated by repetitions of the same words, “Speak to me.

/who do you never speak. Speak. What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? I never know

what you are thinking. Think.” (Eliot 495). These characters personify the complex ideologies of

the time period.

It is significant enough to note that while Modern Poetry laments loss and fragmentation,

Post-modern poetry celebrates it. Anne Lauderbach is of the opinion that our lives constitutes of

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strings of fragments, so is postmodern poetry. She further believes that coherence is the

falsehood, and that if we insist on neatness, we will leave out something of significance – too

neat is false, you experience nothing. Fragments create variety (Lauderbach).

POSTMODERNIST TRENDS IN A.K RAMANUJAN’S POEM A RIVER

Postmodernist poets and writers tend to criticize the traditions and grand narratives that

are used in that language as a convention. A.K Ramanujan is no exception to that. In his poem

The River, He has given a very South-Asian aspect to his poetry. The setting is the city of

Madurai, which the poet later mentions, is of religious and cultural importance only to the people

who are living in that setting i.e the residents of Madurai/ Indians / South-Asians. The language

used by Ramanujan would not be a language that a western person would use because he/she

simply does not know the cultural context of South-Asia. Temporal distortion can be identified

in the lines “Who sang of cities and temples, / every summer / a river dries to a trickle”. In these

lines, the poet jumps from the topic of city and temples to the topic of a river that dries up, which

is a non-linear narration.

Meta-fiction, which is another stylistic technique of post-modernist literature, is also

found in this poem when Ramanujan mentions and criticizes these poets for copying the old

concepts and having a very limited canvas of just the floods, temples and other religious

artifacts. He satirizes the poets for not speaking in verse for the drowning pregnant woman with

her stillborn twins.

Ramanujan employs minimalism when he stresses upon a pregnant woman and her

stillborn twin children. In the Indian context, these characters are very common, which is evident

from the fact that their names were not mentioned.

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 Maximalism is also employed in this poem when Ramanujan draws the pictures of the

settings of a river, dam and Madurai villages in a very Indian way. Ramanujan himself

acknowledged this notion when he expressed that his kernel for poetry is Indian and the

superstructure is English. (Ramanujan & Kumar 73)

POSTMODERNIST TRENDS IN A.K RAMANUJAN’S POEM ANXIETY

In this poem, Ramanujan appears to be assigning metaphors for emotions. This is one of

the most common trends in Post-Modern poetry where the poets give or try to give metaphors to

the emotions of the human being. Sigmund Freud’s theory of Psychoanalysis had gained enough

popularity by that time and poets were becoming more adept in applying those psychoanalytic

techniques to their poetry. A.K. Ramanujan has tried to use the imagery of the tree to give

metaphor to his definition of anxiety. This use of the image of tree has its parallels with a

modern psychology technique where therapists use the image of tree to explain the emotional

problems their patients/clients are facing, where the roots indicate the childhood experiences,

stem symbolizes the patients themselves and branches indicate the problems that have

manifested through their childhood experiences (or traumas). Another technique also known as

Karl Koch’s tree test enables the patients to draw a tree which later helps in the Psychoanalysis.

Apparently, Ramanujan has used that same tree model as a metaphor for defining Anxiety.

Another metaphor is that of “parabola” of a graph, which is related to hope. The poet uses

all kinds of metaphors for different emotions but he conclusively remains unable to find any

metaphor for anxiety.

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 Various post-modern stylistic techniques such as temporal distortion, magical realism and

reader involvement are being incorporated in this poem which give it evident post-modern

characteristics.

POSTMODERNIST TRENDS IN A.K RAMANUJAN’S POEM THE STRIDERS

It is one of Ramanujan’s finest poetry which opens the scope for deconstructive analysis.

Ramanujan has employed minimalism in this poem, which is evident from the way he describes

striders or water bugs floating on water, which is a very common and natural phenomenon.

Temporal distortion, like in other poems of Ramanujan, is also evident in this poem

because one cannot find a linear style of narration in it.

Magical realism is also found when the poet mentions the Prophets walking on water. It

can also be termed as a biblical reference.

One can argue that the stylistic feature of faction is applied in this poetry when

Ramanujan talks about striders as well as the prophets walking on water. One can easily take the

act of striders walking on water as a fact, but the atheists or the agnostic members of the society

might take the act of prophets walking on water as fiction (Provided that the reader and/or the

poet is atheist or agnostic).

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References

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “A song in the front yard.” Norton Anthology of American Literature.

Sixth Edition, Vol. E. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003. 2780-

2781.

Dr.Sheeba. “Postmodern literature: Practices and Theory.” Excellence International Journal of

Education and Research ISSN 2349-8838, Mar. 2017, pp. 181-84.

Eliot, T.S. “The Wasteland.” Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. 2nd Edition, Ed. Ellmann,

Richard and O’Clair, Robert. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998. 491-504.

Fleming, James. “Postmodern Literature Defined.”

(https://study.com/academy/lesson/postmodernism-in-literature-definition-lesson-quiz.html).

Accessed 6 oct 2019.

Hamilton, Karen. “Understanding Postmodern

Poetry.”(http://karenrager.tripod.com/essays/postmodernpoetry.html). Accessed 6 oct 2019.

Kumar. POSTMODERN INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE. New Delhi: ATLANTIC publishers

and distributors, 2006. pdf.

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Lauderbach, Anne. Notes from Lauderbach’s lecture at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton,

Florida, 1/30/01 Mitchell, Susan. 2001. LIT 3021 Modern Poetry. Florida Atlantic University,

Boca Raton, Florida. December 2002.