Hello Blog group:)
I apologize for not blogging last week––it wasn't so much like time constraints or other commitments that kept me from writing; I just got in a weird funk and didn't feel like doing anything, let alone posting or commenting. I don't think the funk is a legitimate excuse, but I just thought you should know. It has been a hard last few days for my family and me. Anyways, for this blog I will write a bit more about postmodernism (now that I have a little better understanding of it), and then I will briefly write on some ideas about possibly using the postmodernist framework in researching my artifact.
So Pomo. Yeah, the angry stepchild of the disciplines or whatever I called it last time. It is still FREAKING HARD to define, but I have gotten my brain around some of its key characteristics thanks to a couple a handy articles my presentation group shared with me ("What is Postmodernism" by Christian Theologian Paul Copan, and "The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" by literary critic and Marxist political theorist Fredric Jameson):
- Postmodernism is "anti-dualistic": Modernist philosophy in Western culture had the effect of creating dualisms (wrong/right, true/false, western/eastern and so on). Postmodernism stays away from these because they do exclude other options/less represented ideas or people. Pomo is about pluralism and diversity.
- Postmodernism questions texts: the historical accuracy/objectivity of a text, no matter who wrote it (individually or corporately) cannot be trusted as true or unbiased. Every writer has an agenda and is inevitably influenced by his or her culture and place in history
- Truth is a matter of perspective: At birth, we are thrown into an environment that we cannot get out of; we will never be able to see reality from an all-seeing, objective viewpoint. So what is true for one person may not be true for another.
- Language as truth: According to postmodernism, we cannot have truth without language. Language creates thought, and therefor creates truth
Crown Jewel
(one of) Twain's favorite cigars
Byron's MOM
This is Lord Byron's mom. She liked books. And cake. (Well, it's actually not historically documented whether or not she liked cake, but I think it's safe to say she did because, well...everyone likes cake. And I will leave it at that.)
Twain
"Fool! The next time you want an image of me, search my full name! Otherwise you'll keep finding Shania in a push-up bra!"
KAWFEE
mmmmm
Pomo as a theoretical framework seems complex. Actually, ALL of these frameworks seem complex. I will be very interested in seeing your group presentation.
ReplyDeleteThere seems this great idea of "truth" laced into all of the theories, only with different spins. What "truth" represents for one theory is the exact opposite for another. The idea that pomo uses in terms being "anti-dualistic" is also very interesting and appealing to me. I tend to believe that classifications (western/eastern/northern/southern) or absolutes (right/wrong) hinder our ability to think outside of the box. It seems that when we are "dualistic" we are only seeing in black and white, and ignoring the idea of the gray scale.
I will have to wait till your presentation to fully understand pomo, but so far I am definitely digging this theoretical framework.
Good explanation here. Po-mo theorists also believe that we have moved past ("post") the modernist project. What is the "modernist project"? Well there's a lot of room for debate on that one. But if I had to nutshell it, I would say that modernism believed in social progress. Modernism was post-Englightenment thing, so it rejected the idea of absolute faith in knowledge and the knowable. But still, it believed that we-- as humans-- were moving toward something more advanced. Po-mo says, "um no... look at the Holocaust... explain how that would fit into social progress!!"
ReplyDeleteSo instead, po-mo sees culture/life/literature as fragmented, non-linear, absurd.
Good post, Ben!