BY:AWATIF

SYAZA
INTAN
KAMEL
Postmodernism
What is Postmodernism?
Postmodernism is a term that encompasses a wide-
range of developments in philosophy, film,
architecture, art, literature, and culture.
Originally a reaction to modernism, referring to
the lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought
or organized principle.
Started around 1940s, exact date is unknown.
Peaked around the 1960s and 1970s with the
release of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five
Postmodern Literature
What is it?
- Used to describe the different aspects of post WW2
literature (modernist literature).
- There is not a clear and defined definition of
postmodernism because of the little agreement
of the concepts and characteristics and ideas
within postmodernism.


Postmodernist Literature
Postmodernist Literature contains a
broad range of concepts and ideas
that include:
- 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).
- reconceptualizations of society and history
Postmodern Literature
There are a few similarities to modernist literature.
- Like modernist literature, both are usually told from an
objective or omniscient point of view.
- Both literatures explore the external reality to examine
the inner states of consciousness of the characters
- Both employ fragmentation in narrative and character
construction
Postmodern Literature: Common
Themes
Irony, playfulness, black humor
- 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.
Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
Patiche
- Authors often combine multiple elements in the
postmodern genre.
Example: Pynchon includes elements from science
fiction, pop culture references, and detective fiction
to create fictional cultures and concepts.
Postmodern Literature: 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.
Postmodern Literature: 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.
Postmodern Literature:
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

References
"Joseph Heller." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 19 Mar 2008, 05:42 UTC. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<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 Mar 2008
<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 Mar 2008
<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 Mar 2008
<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 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Pynchon&oldid=198410127>.