Introduction to Postmodernism.ppt
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Transcript of Introduction to Postmodernism.ppt
Introduction toPostmodernism
Why Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be
Deconstructing Mrs. Miller
Questions
1. What is postmodernism?
2. Why should we care about it?
3. Have you received a modern or postmodern education?
4. What does postmodernism have to say about your identity?
5. What does postmodernism have to say about truth, beauty, and goodness?
6. How postmodernism is impacting K-12 education, religion, the arts, and our daily lives.
Evolution of Western Thought
Timelineas
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Theocentric
Humanistic
Economic
Naturalistic
Modernity
RENAISSANCE TO ABOUT 1900 (+/- 30 years)
Baudrillard:
Early modernity: Renaissance to Industrial Revolution
Modernity: Industrial Revolution
Postmodernity: Period of mass media
The world according to white Anglo-Saxon males from Europe
Timeline
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Your Place in History
Modern
Timeline
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Modernism Postmodernism
14th C 1900 2000
You are here
Your Place in History
Modern
Timeline
as
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Modernism Postmodernism
14th C 1900 2000
Your teachers were / are here
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 capitalism—progressive economic administration of world
Modernization of 3rd world countries (imposition of modern Western values)
Newtonian Order
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Language & Truth
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
What Is Language?
as
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
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.
Purpose of Literature
TRADITIONAL WESTERN “MODERN” THINKING
Modernism
Early 1900s:
World War I
Worldwide poverty & exploitation
Death of the Old Order
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
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
Death of the Old Order
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
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
The Bending of Time & Space
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
E=mc2
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Art
Cubism
Surrealism
Dadaism
Expressionism
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Literature
“Things fall apart,The centre cannot hold,Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
--Yeats, “The Second Coming”
A World with No Center
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
Modernist Literature Emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity
Movement away from “objective” third-party narration
Tendency toward reflexivity and self-consciousness
Obsession with the psychology of self
Rejection of traditional aesthetic theories
Experimentation with language
Breaking the Rules
PRECURSORS OF POSTMODERNISM
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
Acceptance of a New Age
POSTMODERNISM
What is Postmodernism?
The Enlightenment project is dead.
Acceptance of a New Age
POSTMODERNISM
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 WWIIElectricity and automobile Modernism
3. Multinational/consumer capitalismNuclear and electronics Postmodernism
Culture & Capital
POSTMODERNISM
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
The End of Master Narratives
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism: Basic Concepts
All versions of reality are SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS
Concepts of good and evil
Metaphors for God
Language
The self
Gender
EVERYTHING!
The End of Master Narratives
POSTMODERNISM
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
Language As Social Construct
POSTMODERNISM
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
Relativism & Pluralism
POSTMODERNISM
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
The Observer is King
POSTMODERNISM
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
Play and Parody
POSTMODERNISM
PostModern Literature
Parody, play, black humor, pastiche
Nonlinear, fragmented narratives
Ambiguities and uncertainties
Conspiracy and paranoia
Ironic detachment
Linguistic innovations
Postcolonial, global-English literature
Fragmented Identities
POSTMODERNISM
Modernity PostModern
History as fact
Faith in social order
Family as central unit
Authenticity of originals
Mass consumption
Binary Oppositions
POSTMODERNISM
Written by the victors
Cultural pluralism
Alternate families
Hyper-reality (MTV)
Niches; small group identity
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
Modern or Postmodern?
POSTMODERNISM
A gay Southern Baptist who practices Buddhist meditation and believes in the Big Bang theory.
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
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
An Epochal Shift in Thinking
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
A Global Battle:
THE OBJECTIVISTS vs. THE CONSTRUCTIVISTS
Battle of World Views
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
OBJECTIVISTS
My Way
POSTMODERNISM
“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 Judeo-Christian 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
People were burned at the stake for believing there was more than one version of reality.
Metaphors Kill
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
Our public schools have become a postmodern battleground.
God is Not Dead
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
You can be a Christian (or Buddhist, or Hindu, etc.) in the postmodern world.
God is Not Dead
POSTMODERNISM
PostModernism
We all slip and slide between the objective and constructive views:
1. We live in a world of naïve realism.
2. But when we think about things, or have to explain our views, we become constructivists.
We Live in the Middle
POSTMODERNISM
How Popular Culture Changes
RAYMOND WILLIAMS
Dominant ideology controls
Human agency: people work together to bring about change
Takes into account pluralismof a culture
as
POSTSTRUCTURALISM
How Popular Culture Changes
Acceptance of Pluralism
Monica in “Friends”
Playboy Bunnies
&
June Cleaver
Samantha in “Sex & The City”
Courtney Love
Carrie in “Sex & The
City”
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.
Celebrating Diversity
POSTMODERNISM
Literary & FilmTheory
Celebrating Diversity
POSTMODERNISM
Different constructs of reality
“Lenses” through which we see the world ?