Postmodern Literature 1950’s – present Reacting against what came before… • All literary movements begin as a REACTION against the previous movement; thus, many of the characteristics can be compared side by side to see the shift more clearly – – – Realism reacted against Romanticism… Modernism reacted against Realism… Now Post Modernism reacts against Modernism! Modernism vs PoMo • See world as composed • See world as composed of one universal Truth of multiple, historicized (capitalized); as religion truths (little t, plural); has come under truth is constructed by question, that Truth is up historians, media, artist, for debate, but the artist AND reader is the conduit to reach it • Essential question: • Essential question: How Which world am I in? can I interpret this world of which I am part? Modernism vs PoMo • Artistic distance between artist and work; personality of writer absent in work; “I” is a universal “I”, not artist • Writer has privileged insight to Truth; works to reveal to reader • Much more intimate nature; writer is very much present in the work; “I” often equals “writer” • Shared author/reader/culture production of truths Modernism vs PoMo • Rely on classical and • Avoid excess of literary allusions to help allusions, but if use convey universal Truth them, are usually personal or pop culture • Ex “The Love Song of J related Alfred Prufrock” alludes • Ex PoMo poem may to Dante’s Inferno and Shakespeare’s Hamlet allude to the death of poet’s dog in 3rd grade, which reader doesn’t know, but poet doesn’t care Modernism vs PoMo • See selves as myth-users; use myths to re-establish universal Truth based on the past • Ex Final lines of The Waste Land: “these fragments I have shored against my ruins” • See selves as mythmakers; modify myths to fit contemporary situations and create new myths to fit contemporary situations • Ex Shrek takes fairy tale and makes it fit TODAY (laughs at old stereotypes) Other PoMo Characteristics • Structures writing in nontraditional forms – PoMo writers experiment with form of fiction in order to convey meaning, or even just for the “fun” of playing with the reader’s expectations – The Things They Carried is a novel, but not in the typical sense of the word Other PoMo Characteristics • Comments upon itself – PoMo writers are often intensely self-conscious, and therefore comment upon the art they are creating AS they are creating it – “How to Tell a True War Story” Other PoMo Characteristics • Blends and overlaps fiction and non-fiction – This idea ties in with the concept of multiple worlds existing simultaneously, thus these two historically separate genres are seen more fluidly by PoMo writers – Tim O’Brien the author…Tim O’Brien the character Other PoMo Characteristics • Features cultural diversity – PoMo writing has been more “open” to writers of various cultures and genders – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Walker, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, etc