To For Describing Late Twentieth-century Literature And Essay Example

importantly, they can also provide you with a new perspective.

As per Petrovic (pp. 8-9), literature in the postmodern era is not an actual entity, but rather a subjective interpretation of it through a postmodern lens. To correctly evaluate whether 'postmodern' is a fitting label for late twentieth century culture and literature, defining it and comparing with modernism becomes imperative.

In 'Toward a Concept of Postmodernism,' Ihab Hassan explores the distinct qualities exhibited by Postmodernism that are present not only in global culture but also various aspects of daily life, whether seen as a response to or a component of Modernism. The concepts of cultural imperialism, post history, and post-industrialization indicate significant transformations in the world. Postmodernism can be viewed as a circumstance wherein people live in a society increasingly oriented towards technology, with lower trust levels in authority and "truth," and with unstable meanings open to interpretation.

Hassan poses questions to formulate the idea or definition of postmodernism, including if there is a particular phenomenon that sets it apart from modernism and if the temporary label of "postmodernism" is useful. He also wonders if we can design a scheme capable of accounting for its trends and counter-trends along chronological and typological lines while considering its artistic, epistemic, and social character. Lastly, he ponders how this postmodernist phenomenon relates to earlier modes of change like turn-of-the-century avant-gardes or the high modernism of the twenties (Hassan, p.).

Despite recognizing that answering these questions about postmodernism is difficult - as they are similar difficulties faced when discussing this concept - Hassan acknowledges that the term "postmodernism" is unrefined and reminds us of the very thing it seeks to overcome: modernism.

(Hassan, p.

3) Contrary to romanticism, classicism, baroque, and rococo, modernism and postmodernism embody opposing elements within themselves. According to Hassan, these two movements are not entirely distinct from one another, as culture is constantly evolving across time. Thus, being influenced by the past, present, and future is inevitable, and many individuals exhibit traces of Victorian, Modern, and Postmodern eras throughout their lives. Furthermore, a writer may produce both modernist and postmodernist pieces within the same period of time.

Statement 3 suggests a contradiction between two presented statements, but the author partially agrees with both. Firstly, postmodernism is not an accurate description of the cultural and literary movement of the late-twentieth century. Despite sharing traits with modernism, postmodernists aim to deviate from traditional uses such as fragmentation rather than imitate modernists. Postmodernism evaluates Modernism and the project of modernity. Secondly, authors have produced works that can be classified as both modernist and postmodernist making it challenging to differentiate between the two movements. However, in the author's opinion, a distinction can still be made.

Postmodernism in literature involves the portrayal of instability and unreliability. These qualities are evident in texts that exhibit the intrusion of the author. In "The Decline of American Postmodernism", De Villo asserts that postmodern fiction utilizes and amplifies modernist fragmentation to produce a wholly self-aware text. Instead of adhering to a strictly naturalistic or realistic approach, postmodern literature continuously reminds the reader, through various means, that language constructs fiction and that reading involves engaging with language.

(De Villo, p. 9) Within postmodernist writing, Slaughterhouse Five exemplifies a focus on the process of writing. The first chapter of the novel, which centers on the act of writing itself,

demonstrates this emphasis. Vonnegut articulates the challenges he faced while attempting to craft his story, while also playing with the line between fact and fiction via the declaration that "all this happened, more or less." In addition, the blending of genres and styles and the breaking down of distinctions between high and low culture are key features of both postmodern literature and art.

In his poem 'A Supermarket in California', Ginsberg depicts the fusion of high and low culture and challenges the conventional narration of suburban existence. By using the supermarket as a metaphorical background to reflect on the potential of America, Ginsberg mourns the present condition of the country. He questions if America will persist in prioritizing hollow materialistic values and a sense of isolation, or whether it will embrace the possibility of communal living. The line "Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?" conveys Ginsberg's concerns and his search for answers from Whitman.

Ginsberg's uncertainty about America's potential is hinted at by the poem's question-ending rather than a declarative statement. Postmodernism adopts many modernist ideas, such as dismissing the barriers between high and low cultures, defying strict genre categorizations, and focusing on pastiche, irony, and playfulness. Nonetheless, postmodern art stresses reflexivity, self-awareness, fragmentation, discontinuity, and prioritizes the decentralized and dehumanized subject. Even though postmodernism seemingly resembles modernism in these aspects, it deviates from modernism in its approach to several of these trends.

The fragmentation of human subjectivity and history is often presented tragically in modernism, as seen in Woolf's To the Lighthouse. However, modernist works strive to restore lost unity, coherence and meaning

through art. Postmodernism differs from modernism by celebrating fragmentation and incoherence, rather than bemoaning them. Therefore, the term postmodernism may not accurately describe this departure from modernism. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five exemplifies postmodernist celebration of fragmentation through its blend of fantasy and nonfiction, moral stance, and questioning of grand narratives in a fragmented form.

Vonnegut utilizes time travel and the Dresden bombing to merge elements of fantasy and nonfiction in his novel, which is also characterized by its fragmented structure. The protagonist, Billy, moves randomly between different points in his life, causing space and time to become intertwined and reflective of the postmodern perspective that reality is uncertain. Chapter 1 provides insight into the purpose behind the fragmented nature and disjointed timeline, with Vonnegut stating that "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre."

The use of fragmentation in modernist and postmodernist literature can be seen in Slaughterhouse Five. Through the character of Billy becoming "unstuck in time", Vonnegut is able to have him travel through time and space, experiencing only fragments of his life before moving him on again. This creates a collage effect, composed of scattered pieces of Billy's life. By fragmenting Billy's experiences in this way, Vonnegut is actually bringing together the events of his life. The constant fragmentation of Billy's life serves to unify his character for the reader.

Vonnegut employs the technique of presenting Billy's life in a non-linear way, allowing the reader to view his entire personality instead of just a fragment. Fragmentation of time is also used to keep the Dresden bombing fresh in the reader's mind, as Billy revisits it. This grants a firsthand account of

the massacre while enabling the reader to distance themselves from it. Vonnegut offers a perspective of both worlds, which permits the reader to experience the horrors of war and reflect on them. The fragmentation of Billy's life during and after the war fosters an emotional and intellectual response from the reader.

Vonnegut uses a fragmented narrative in Billy's tale to allow for multiple returns to Dresden. This approach keeps Billy and the reader firmly rooted in the war and its cruelties, preventing the burying of these experiences and perpetuating war as an ongoing presence. This method aligns with postmodernism, which deconstructs our world in response to post-war trauma.

The evidence of this can be found in Slaughterhouse Five, where Vonnegut recalls being advised against writing an anti-war novel in the first chapter, with the words "...

Vonnegut chose to portray the impact of war on soldiers rather than creating an anti-war narrative. He compared wars to unstoppable glaciers and demonstrated that there was no easy solution to prevent their destruction. The physical and emotional suffering of those affected by World War II and Dresden could not be alleviated. Though Vonnegut's book focuses on the aftermath of war for survivors, it ultimately serves as a protest against war. Published in 1969 during the Vietnam War, it spoke out against this conflict.

Vonnegut expressed his opposition to war through his pacifism and criticism of it, as evidenced in Slaughterhouse Five which served as a means of protesting against the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, Hassan points out a problem with the definition of postmodernism, whereby scholars have differing views on its meaning. While some use it to describe avant-gardism or neo-avant-gardism,

others view it as modernism. To address this issue, Hassan suggests alternative labels such as "The Atomic Age", "The Space Age", or "The Television Age". However, these alternatives lack theoretical explanation.

The period in question has been referred to as the Age of Indetermanence, which combines the concepts of indeterminacy and immanence. Alternatively, some suggest simply living and letting others choose the label. The difficulty in finding a suitable name for this period lies in its similarities with modernism, making a completely new term too drastic. Perhaps a name based on when it occurred, such as post-colonialist or post-World War II, would be best. In conclusion, postmodern is an ineffective term for late twentieth-century literature and culture as it suggests an extension of modernism rather than the reaction against it that it truly represents.