Postmodernism & Literature

What is Postmodernism?
encompasses wide-range of developments in philosophy, film, architecture, art, literature, and culture. Not clear invention of literary critics Originally a reaction to modernism, referring lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought or organized principle. Started around 1940s - exact date is unknown. Peaked around the 1960s and 1970s with release of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five

Postmodern Literature
What is it? describe the different aspects of post WW2 literature (modernist literature). no clear and defined definition of postmodernism - little agreement of concepts and characteristics and ideas.

Postmodernist Literature
Postmodernist Literature contains broad range of concepts and ideas : responses to modernism and its ideas responses to technological advances greater diversity of cultures that leads to cultural pluralism. (small groups within a larger society maintain their culture identity). reconceptualization of society and history

Postmodern Literature
Similarities to modernist literature:

usually told from an objective or omniscient point of view. literatures explore the external reality to examine the inner states of consciousness of the characters employ fragmentation in narrative and character construction bear witness to sublime (unmanageable large or unmasterably complex)

Dissimilarities
Modernism worked on time Postmodernism work in time Modernism assumes literature approaches to the condition of poetry Postmodernism assumes literature intrinsically narrative Modernism developed poetics centered on principles of structure; multiplication of voices and perspectives of orchestrating such voices

 Postmodernism: narratives depend on the voice than eye; make voice heard; different attitude towards or theory of narrative concerned with knowledge and understanding fiction ontological creation and interrelation of words beings work in theatre no longer conforms to assumed definitions puts forward the unpresentable in presentation itself incommensurable cannot be measured no common scale or measure available

Postmodern Literature: Common

Themes
Irony, playfulness, black humor

An incongruity, or contrast, between what the expectations of a situation are and what is really the case Example: The Crying Lot of 49, Pynchon uses childish wordplay while discussing serious subjects. An example of his wordplay can be found in the names of his characters: Mike Fallopian, Stanley Koteks, Mucho Maas, and Dr. Hilarius.

Common Themes
Pastiche: French cognate of the Italian noun pasticcio, which is a pt or pie-filling mixed from diverse ingredients literary work composed from elements borrowed from various other writers or particular earlier author. Example: Pynchon includes elements from science fiction, pop culture references, and detective fiction to create fictional cultures and concepts.

Common Themes
Metafiction Writing about writing, often used to undermine the authority of the author and to advance stories in unique ways. Example: In Italo Calvinos novel, If On a Winters Night a Traveler, is about a reader attempting to read a novel of the same name. In Kurt Vonneguts novel, Slaughterhouse Five, the first chapter is about the writing process of the novel.

Common Themes
Paranoia The belief that there is something out of the ordinary, while everything remains the same. Example: In Kurt Vonneguts novel, Breakfast of Champions, a character becomes violent when he imagines everyone else as a robot and he is the only human.

Influential works
Catch 22 Joseph Heller Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut Lost in the Funhouse John Barth The Things They Carried Tim OBrien White Noise Don DeLillo Gravitys Rainbow Thomas Pynchon The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon

Postmodern Authors
Joseph Heller o Born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York o Known for his post World War satires and playwrights o Catch 22 most well-known of his works o Other works include: Something Happened, Good as Gold, and Closing Time. o Also wrote plays: We Bombed in New Haven, Catch 22, Clevingers Trail

Postmodern Authors
Thomas Pynchon o Born May 8, 1937 in Glen Cove, New York. o Known for his fictional writing over many different subjects that include: science, mathematics, and history o Known for his early works: V, The Crying of Lot 49, and Gravitys Rainbow. o Also wrote essays concerning diverse topics such as missile security and Watts Riots ( a large scale riot that lasted six days in the Watts neighborhood of LA).

Postmodern Authors
Kurt Vonnegut o Born November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana o Known for using Patiche in his works. Blends satire, black comedy, and science fiction to create novels, such as Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions. o As a former soldier and prisoner of war, many of his experiences influenced his later works.

Postmodern Authors
Tim OBrien o Born October 1, 1946 in Austin, Minnesota o His career began with the release of If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship me. Wrote mainly about his experiences in the Vietnam War o OBrien uses fiction and reality and blends them into his own genre. He labels his works fiction, however, he uses his situations he experienced in his works. o Most famous work: The Things They Carried

References
"Joseph Heller." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 19 Mar 2008, 05:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Heller&oldid=199280810>. "Kurt Vonnegut." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 18:26 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurt_Vonnegut&oldid=199877168> "List of postmodern authors." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Mar 2008, 12:37 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_postmodern_authors&oldid=197215707>. "Postmodern literature." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 16:46 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Postmodern_literature&oldid=199856493>. "Thomas Pynchon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Mar 2008, 14:23 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Pynchon&oldid=198410127>.