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Postmodernism and its effect on society
The concept of postmodernism
Postmodernism and its effect on society
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3.1. Brief Contextualisation of the characteristics of Modernism and Late-Modernism.
Before postmodernism can be understood clearly a brief understanding of modernism needs to be contextualised and explained. The modernist movement started to form in the late 19th and early 20th century, some of the forming factors of modernism came from the rapid growth of the modern industrial societies and the horror that arose form World War I. Many modernists rejected enlightened thinking and gave up all religious beliefs (CITE). Some of the most important characteristics of the modern movement directly contradict the characteristics of postmodernism. After what happened in World War I the modernist started to reject the past with that in mind
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This can be marked as the beginning of the mindset that started the reaction, later known as postmodernism. It is this reaction that took on many artistic forms over the next four decades( Jenkins : 2016). According to Giddens(1990), postmodernism refers to the artistic movements and styles within literature, painting, arts, and architecture. It concerns aspects of aesthetic reflection upon the nature of modernity ( ithinkstuff.com : 2016). One of the most important thing that the postmodernist did is question the narratives that embraced during the modernist period, the most important can be seen as the notion that all progress is positive especially the technological ( Jenkins : 2016). When rejecting these narratives, the postmodernists reject the idea that knowledge or history can be surrounded in totalising theories, embracing instead the local, the contingent, and the temporary ( Jenkins : 2016). The term post in postmodernism refers to the historical progression. Postmodernism changed the idea that only the intellectual and art critics can assign meaning and share their opinion on art, thus giving every viewer the opportunity to assign there own meaning and create there own opinion on the art work that is viewed ( Jenkins :
Postmodernism movement started in the 1960’s, carrying on until present. James Morley defined the postmodernism movement as “a rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective anonymous experience.” In other words, postmodernism rejects what has been established and makes emphasis on combined revolutionary experiences. Postmodernism can be said it is the "derivate" of modernism; it follows most of the same ideas than modernism but resist the very idea of boundaries. According to our lecture notes “Dominant culture uses perception against others to maintain authority.”
Modernism indicates a branch of movements in art (Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism; Cubism; Expressionism; Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art. Etc.) with distinct characteristics, it firmly rejects its classical precedent and classical style, what Walter Benjamin would refer to as “destructive liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage”; and it explores the etiology of a present historical situation and of its attendant forms of self-consciousness in the West. Whereas Modernity is often used as ...
Postmodernism movement which began in the 1950’s and still prevails today, is the successor of Modernism. Postmodernism, in contrast to Modernism, seeks to challenge authority as a whole, refutes any belief in absolute truths, regards hierarchal power as distrustful and seeks to establish an approach in
Throughout the years there have been frequent cultural movements in the arts, one of them being postmodernism. This term is well-known as a description of an era, broad and multifaceted movement, postmodernism represents the departure from Modernism, Postmodernism describes a recognized use of the earlier time styles alongside the strong notion in the arts, architecture, literary criticisms, literature, cultures, and recognized use of the earlier time styles, that emerged later in the 19th and
Postmodernism literally means after-modernism and is used to describe the period of time we currently are in which is after the age of modernism. Premoderns placed their trust in authority. Moderns lost their confidence in authority and placed it in human reason instead. Postmoderns kept the modern distrust of authority but lost their trust in reason and have ...
Modernism is defined in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly began emerging in the works of many great authors. Two of the pioneer Modernist writers were Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. The tendencies to question the incontestable beliefs embedded in all thinking and to focus on the inner self dominated. Old viewpoints were tossed aside to make way for the discovery of modern man's personal spirituality. Two works that are considered important forbears in the Modern period are T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
In the 1950s, authors tended to follow common themes, these themes were summed up in an art called postmodernism. Postmodernism took place after the Cold War, themes changed drastically, and boundaries were broken down. Postmodern authors defined themselves by “avoiding traditional closure of themes or situations” (Postmodernism). Postmodernism tends to play with the mind, and give a new meaning to things, “Postmodern art often makes it a point of demonstrating in an obvious way the instability of meaning (Clayton)”. What makes postmodernism most unique is its unpredictable nature and “think o...
Post modernism is a very difficult concept to define. A French philosopher once defined post modernism as an "incredulity toward all meta narratives," which basically means a skeptical attitude toward all claims of absolute truth. Post modern writers use elements and techniques that provoke the reader to question their reading experience and scrutinize their own personal understanding of life and the values of their society. There are excellent examples of post modern writers using elements of post modern writing, such as irony, magic realism and fragmentation in the short stories read in Ms. Reynolds's English 4U class. The use of post modern elements in these short stories forces the reader to further their reading experience by going more in depth into the writing and figuring out how the story is significant to them and their view on the world.
Postmodernism is a style of art that first became popular in the late 20th century. When seeing the word postmodernism, it might have to do with any one medium of art-- literature, philosophy, history, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Lyotard, a founder of postmodernism in philosophy, is quoted as saying, “Simplifying to the extreme, I define the postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” By saying this, Lyotard simply meant that, as a postmodernist, he was against the ways of thinking of modernists and wanted to see something new philosophically and artistically. Postmodernity demonstrates a departure from the art style modernism.
Different art movements are created as a reflection of the type of response to the existing or older art movement. It does not necessarily mean scrapping the old to make way for the new. In art, the new movement always takes with it part of the past, but what makes it distinct is the new and fresh perspective that it brings to the table that wasn't present or appreciated before. If anything, the chronology of art movements is testament to the growth process of the world of art, proof of how the art has evolved ever since. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are two art movements that happened in succession, and the characteristics of and existence of Post Impressionism reflects how Post Impressionism is a reaction to the earlier Impressionism and how Post Impressionism, despite its efforts to introduce something new, still retains many important characteristics found in Impressionism.
The Postmodern Era or Post War Era is said to have begun in 1940 (Wang). Postmodernism is defined by Brian McHale as, “A main international current of literature and at after the waning of modernism, both continuous and dis-continuous with modernism” (McHale). Gabriel Garcia Marquez, without any problems, exemplified the postmodern “Literature of Replenishment” (McHale). The characteristic that mainly defined the era is the lack of a good narrative (McHale). Postmodernists also believed that all religions are valid (McHale). This era was full of politics, as World War II had just concluded. Writers who experienced World War II are said to be the people who shaped this era (McHale).
Postmodernism is an intellectual movement that promotes itself as the 'antithesis' of modernism, resulting from the intensification, radicalization, or transformation of the processes of modernity. (Barfield, 368) The term was introduced in the late 1940's, however, the turn towards, if not the origin of postmodernism in anthropology, can be traced to a single publication: Writing Culture (1986). It consisted of contributions from nine scholars, edited by Clifford and Marcus, and attempted to sketch out the basic premise of the postmodern perspective. (Harris, 153) Anthropologist are forced to contend with the changes created by postmodernism in a variety of ways, beginning with the challenge to anthropological authority. It is felt by many that it is incredibly arrogant for anthropologists to assume that they have both the capacity and mandate to dissect, interpret and describe the lives of people in other cultures, given the power and wealth imbalance of the colonial past, leaving the 'other' unable to speak for him/herself. This argument finds itself in the whole 'West vs.
Postmodernism attempts to call into question or challenge the notion of a single absolute unified master narrative without simply replacing it with another. It is a paradoxical, recursive, and problematic method of critique.
Post impressionism is a term that is used to describe a group of late-19th century and early-20th century artists whose work helped art transition into a new era. These artist defied the naturalism of the Impressionist to explore color, line, and form. This rebellion led to the development of Expressionism. Generally, the approaches were so varied that it is difficult just to focus on one artist and their technique.
Since modernism wasn’t defined in the previous section, it will be defined now. If it is not defined, then any concept of postmodernism would lack the proper foundation. Modernism is usually a first person narrative dealing with self-consciousness and a rather cynical view of the modern world—modern life is bad and stuff. In contrast to that, postmodernism views the world as impossible to firmly define and understand.