Postmodernism

Authors and Literature

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

• PaStiche - 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 Calvino’s novel, If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler, is about a reader attempting to read a novel of the same name. In Kurt Vonnegut’s 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 Vonnegut’s 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 O’Brien

• White Noise – Don DeLillo

• Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon

• The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon

Postmodern Authors

• Joseph Heller- Born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn,

New York - Known for his post World War

satires and playwrights - Catch 22 most well-known of

his works- Other works include:

Something Happened, Good as Gold, and Closing Time.

- Also wrote plays: We Bombed in New Haven, Catch 22, Clevinger’s Trail

Postmodern Authors

• Thomas Pynchon- Born May 8, 1937 in Glen

Cove, New York.- Known for his fictional writing

over many different subjects that include: science, mathematics, and history

- Known for his early works: V, The Crying of Lot 49, and Gravity’s Rainbow.

- Also wrote essays concerning diverse topics such as missile security and Watts Riots ( a large scale riot that lasted six days in the Watt’s neighborhood of LA).

Postmodern Authors• Kurt Vonnegut- Born November 11, 1922 in

Indianapolis, Indiana- Known for using Pastiche in

his works. Blends satire, black comedy, and science fiction to create novels, such as Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions.

- As a former soldier and prisoner of war, many of his experiences influenced his later works.

Postmodern Authors

• Tim O’Brien- Born October 1, 1946 in Austin,

Minnesota- 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’Brien 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.

- Most famous work: The Things They Carried

Your Postmodern Story

MUST:

• Be written in first person or center on one character

• Contain at least two examples of pastiche

• Either be dominantly: ironic, playful, or full of black humor

• Use either Paranoia or Metafiction

• Have some semblance of a beginning and an end.

• Be 750+ words