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 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 Patiche 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