“Contemporary, or postmodern, society is characterized by a newfound ability to control the world of nature and worlds of illusion. It immerses people in a virtual environment of images and simulations, and encourages the acting out of desires, including desires that once seemed off-limits to action and experience. Ultimately, it seeks to turn reality into a simulation and make simulations seem real, so humanity will have the ability to control and create its surroundings at will”.
The rapid rise in technology throughout the 20th century also brought the world closer making transport and communication between nations far easier than before. This breaking down of barriers brought with it a new integration of cultures (as did the large amounts of immigration that took place after World War 2) Technology expanded postmodernisms ideals of rejecting high and low art even further in the 1990’s. Computer graphics (first seen in the film Tron 1985, but not used as we know then untill Terminator 2: judgment day) revolutionized the boundaries of reality and computers have allowed anyone to become a film director or musician. The internet has provided a place for these home compositions to be exhibited (e.g. YouTube) thus validating these works as legitimate forms of expression. This has become yet another example of how society has shifted towards postmodernisms values while at the same time changing the way in which postmodernism is expressed through the development of new technology based forms of expression.
“Postmodernism is an idea that has been extremely controversial and difficult to define among scholars, intellectuals, and historians, because the term implies to any that the modern historical period has passed. Nevertheless, most agree that postmodern ideas have influenced philosophy, art, critical theory, literature, architecture, design, marketing/business, interpretation of history, and culture since the late 20th century”.
The postmodern attitude is one that believes in the limitation of all human knowledge and that it is culturally conditioned. Thus it believes that there is no pure form of truth as each truth is subject to an unconscious interpretation of its story through the person who tells its story. The postmodern attitude is one which attempts to go beyond the present by exploring and questioning the self as well as the world which surrounds the self. Although it is difficult to fully define postmodernism as a whole, postmodernism contains several elements which distinguish it from other artistic and literary eras. This inability to be defined however does not deter from postmodernism effect on text and art but rather adds to it. Postmodernism was shaped by many features and events, its techniques were influenced by different factors before in turn affecting text and art. It is these techniques which have helped define the postmodern world that we are a part of.
One of the features of postmodernism is the rejection of boundaries between high and low art. Art such as the formal paintings of Michelangelo are no longer considered in a different level to modern art such as Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel made in 1951 or the Pabalo Picasso Bull’s Head made in 1943 (the Bicycle Wheel and Bulls Head would not have previously been considered art during other eras such as the Victorian era). This rejection of boundaries can also been seen in literature with postmodern works no longer following the classical structure of novels or genre distinctions. This came about due to the introduction of the “teenager”. People like Elvis began to encourage people to break free of tradition through their arts. Films such as Rebel Without a Cause preached the idea that tradition should be treated with irreverence and that any form of expression was as valid as any other. This ideal was pushed further in the late 19 50’s and early 1960’s during the introduction of Rock music. This helped greatly in allowing postmodernism to enter popular culture and also helped to allow postmodernism to be considered a positive movement. The reason for accepting was the cause of the push of postmodernism in popular culture. There were many more youths than in the past due to the “Baby Boomers” which gave them a much larger say than before. As they rejected the ideals of modernism their influence spread and their rejection of boundaries was slowly embraced into the ideals of society.
Changes also occurred in literature as a direct result of the Postmodernist Movement. Text was no longer confined to a single genre; it need no longer be linear. Postmodernism brought about the idea that there were no boundaries. Examples of multi-genre literature would include The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the novel (and subsequent sequels The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Life the Universe and Everything) which crosses between both science fiction and comedy genres.
In turn the destruction of boundaries allowed for new techniques to be created such as fragmentation which takes the text away from the logical thought format. With fragmentation text is no longer A to B to C, but rather, (as shown in Sliding Doors 1998) texts can jump from place to place, time to time leaving the narrative discontinued. This in turn can cause texts to become ambiguous and more open to individual interpretation such as Sally Potter’s Orlando. Texts no longer needed to have happy or complete endings, one of the most cynical poems would be The Hollow Men by T S Eliot (though this is in fact a modernist poem). Ambiguity is often produced through Double Entendre (Double Entendre can be either subtle or obvious - a good example of the later would be George Orwell’s Animal Farm). Ambiguity can also be caused by simultaneity in which often two or more worlds coexist at the same time (The Matrix is an example of this as the real world and the fictional world run simultaneously in the one story). It was because of this rejection that postmodernism was allowed to flourish. The rejection of the confines of past literary styles allowed new styles to be developed and different meanings to be derived from texts. It allowed composers to express ideas or beliefs in new ways that gave them greater freedom of expression.
Ambiguity could thus be attributed to the postmodern belief that there is no pure truth. The postmodern view of history is that all history is subject to interpretation as all “knowledge is limited and culturally conditioned”. This has been the reason for postmodern historians to attempt to achieve a recount of history in such a way that it achieves the closest to a “fair” record of the event as humanly possible, though accepting that an ultimate truth is unachievable by man. This is in contrast to historians of the past who wrote history in ways which made them blatantly bias in favor of the intended audience of the historical record. The effects of postmodernism did not affect history as quickly as they did other areas. Unlike other forms of text the voices who recorded history were not questioned till the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Following then the recording of history evolved through stages. These included a rejection of history written by the victors and a switching of perspective. During this time colonization was now invasion and events moved further from the “truth” in an attempt to remove bias by historians (from this came the Space Invaders argument – is the alien an evil invader or is the human evil for killing an alien who is just looking for a new home?) . Since then historians have attempted to shift the pendulum back to the center however under the postmodernist belief that there is no “pure truth” history the pendulum will never quite be even. Examples of where pure, unbiased truth will never be reached include issues such as the white settlement of Australia and issues that involve prejudice to a group of people such as black suppression in America.
Postmodernism demands that people be aware of themselves and their abilities and that society be aware of the limitations of man. In text this is seen through Self Consciousness by definition means “to be aware of one’s self being and individual actions of thought”. In literature self consciousness is used most commonly in poetry (although novels such as Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club use self consciousness as well). Poems that use self consciousness include The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock by T. S. Eliot (this can be seen through the stream of consciousness experienced as the poem follows its character). In society self consciousness is seen through people’s awareness that’s they are limited because they are human. This is expressed in such ways as through postmodern history which recognizes that bias cannot be removed from our recording of history as all history is culturally conditioned due to the nature of man.
Reflexivity is when a text is “directed back on itself” (usually seen in plot twists). Fight Club uses this to clarify the story during the plot twist in which we discover the nameless narrator to be one and the same with Tyler Durden. In reflexivity there is often also self reference. Reflexivity like self consciousness has become an integral part of society. They ask us to reflect on ourselves and our society. This has become particularly important since the vote was given to everyone. It meant that the postmodern ideal that any opinion is as valid as any other was being put into practice. Freedom of speech has allowed composers of text to reflect upon society and politics. The freedom to vote has allowed all people to validate their opinions and allow changes to occur due to them. Many consider this validation of voice to be the most important ideal of postmodernism.
Reflexivity has also been a central ideal of postmodern society as it preaches looking inside the self to make judgment. In today’s society people reflect on themselves for guidance. This can be seen in the rise of New Age religions which center on spirituality. The focus on the inner self and can often be tailored to the needs of the individual. Examples of a New Age religion would be Mysticism or Feng shui. To define the role of reflexivity in society “reflexivity is the outcome and the input into the global knowledge industry. And it is the quiet voice of “self-help” that resists the influence of expert systems, reappropriating expert knowledge into the personal life project”.
Postmodernism in film, art, music and literature generally aims to do one thing. That is to provide the responder with something revolutionary which connects with them and shows to them the message of the composer but at the same time reinvents the way in which a meaning is portrayed. Postmodern Director Quentin Tarantino stated during the release of his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs (His first mainstream postmodern film) “I don't think people were ready. They didn't know what to make of it. It's like the first silent movie when audiences saw and scattered” (the films he is referring to is a 50 second film called L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat made in 1895).
Postmodernism has been a movement that has spread through the entire globe. With boundaries being broken and geographical gaps closed the world is linked like never before. The introduction of the internet in the early 1990’s was perhaps the largest contributor to this in recent times. The world’s population is now sharing and communicating cultures, ideals and knowledge to each other in ways that had previously never been seen or acknowledged. The effect of postmodernism on text and art throughout the ages has been massive, just as in turn the events which took place in society during these times had a massive impact in shaping postmodernism. Postmodernism has shaped text and art in such a way that the boundaries to which text and art were confined to in the past have been eliminated. Developing throughout the mid to late 20th century as a result of events that have shaped our society, postmodernism broke the rules and allowed true freedom of expression. Postmodernism has allowed composers of text and art as well as people in general to validate anything they consider of value. This has helped shape not merely art and text but also our entire society.
Source Evaluation
Pulp Fiction Analysis:
Pulp Fiction is a highly reliable source with which to explain postmodernism due to its use of a wide range of cinematic techniques (such as self reference, fragmentation, ambiguity, narrative discontinuity, lack of genre distinctions, satire and pastiche) which help show what the explanations of techniques in my essay would look like if they were put to use in the most obvious ways possible. However perhaps the most useful postmodern technique gained from Pulp Fiction was its use of parody to reflect on the follies of society. This could be seen in such lines as – “Don't you hate that? What? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable? I don't know. That's a good question. That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence”. This parody proved not only useful as a source of reference for literary techniques but also reflects upon how postmodernism has shaped our society.
The film proved unreliable when looking at how postmodern film reflects everyday life because Pulp Fiction never uses situations which are natural to the responder. The films opts to use more extreme events with which to carry out its message, this unfortunately also detracted from its overall usefulness though it was still generally very helpful.
Fight Club Analysis:
The openness of the film to show violence without holding back that made it a useful source as the film makes its intentions clear. The film also contained several other useful postmodern techniques. Fight Club is a film which heavily uses self reference and self consciousness as well as fragmentation to a lesser extent. This made it useful when I was in need of examples of how postmodern techniques are depicted in popular culture. The film satirizes the modern order of society mocking the “Ikea nesting instinct”. This gave the film usefulness much like Pulp Fiction as it reflects postmodernisms view on the follies of society.
As stated above it’s the films directness and “in your face” style that makes it’s postmodern techniques so powerful and obvious and this was the main reason the source was of use. The source was reliable in that the narrator reflects what many people have thought but not said throughout their lives and this connection with the audience makes it a far more reliable source when it comes to postmodernisms reflection of society than say Pulp Fiction. Fight club lost some of its reliability and usefulness because the main character is depicted as mentally ill. Thus the film breaks away from the audience as often as it reflects their thoughts. This pulling away from the audience weakens its above connection and thus removes some of its usefulness.
French Lieutenants Woman Analysis:
French Lieutenants Woman was a text which proved to be very useful as it was a text which was both postmodern and contemporary. While texts such as Fight Club & The Matrix use postmodern techniques to make themselves seem “Out there” and unique French Lieutenants Woman uses postmodernism with more subtlety than any other text I encountered. This allowed it to produce a story which can be related to more easily yet remained postmodern.
It was not useful however, when I needed a text with which to explain how postmodernism transforms a text from a contemporary text into a truly postmodern as the more blatant techniques which Fowels uses (bar the multiple endings and non linear narrative) generally don’t affect the story itself but rather challenge the responders interpretation of how a novel is composed (as seen in chapter 13 pg 97 – 99). French Lieutenants Woman was a reliable source when used as a representation of how composers produce text differently when attempting to make them postmodern. It however lost some of its usefulness through its Victorian era setting as its setting made it an unreliable example of how postmodernism can shape “our” (i.e current) world.
History Extension Project Proposal
Name: Michael Mofsessian
Topic Area: The effects of postmodernism on text and art.
Focus Area: Since the birth of society there have been “movements” which have reflected the attitude and paradigms of people and society at that time. Generally the next “movement” is one which rejects the mindset and values of its predecessor. Postmodernism is the current movement of the day, and just as with movements before it, postmodernism is reflected in all aspects of society ranging from music and film to architecture and art to literature and the values of society. In my essay I will explain how postmodernism has changed our society and in particular its influence on text and art.
Focus Questions:
- What is postmodernism?
- What has driven postmodernism?
- How has postmodernism transformed society?
- How have text and art been transformed by postmodernism?
- What has emerged in postmodern text and art?
- How has postmodernism affected our interpretation of the present and past?
- How have film, music and art developed since postmodernism?
- How have the attitudes of society changed due to postmodernism?
- What are the driving forces which push postmodern ideals on society?
- How have events in society shaped postmodernism?
Enquiry Questions:
The essay will be spread into three main enquiry questions. They are the following:
- What is postmodernism and how did it come about?
- What are the effects of postmodernism on society and in text and art?
- Who has been affected by postmodernism and why?
Preliminary Research:
My Preliminary research has involved writing Post-It notes of my ideas which I have collected and laid out in the form of an Affinity diagram. This has allowed me to group my ideas in such a way that I have developed questions from them.
I have also looked at several areas affected by postmodernism including literature (novels and poems), films, art and music. Through this observation I have gathered information on the techniques of postmodernism and will include examples and explanations of high and low art distinction, rejection of genre distinction, fragmentation, irony, ambiguity, discontinued narrative, pastiche, pastiche mass, bricolage, self consciousness and reflexivity.
A large portion of postmodernism affects are seen in text and art. Thus in my preliminary research I have looked at an extensive number of textual and artistic pieces including: Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Bicycle Wheel, Bulls Head, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Sliding Doors, The Hollow Men, Orlando, The Matrix, Star wars, Jurassic Park, The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock, Bride and Prejudice, Scary Movie, City Square, French Lieutenants Women, The Simpsons, Futurama, The Crucible, Life the Universe and Everything and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Apart from art and text I will also look atartitstic movements and how they have been affected by postmodernism. This section will be mainly dedicated to comparing modern art to postmodern art.
In an attempt to answer the question who has been affected by postmodernism and why? I have looked at globalisation and the affects of this global movement. Through this I will be able to decipher if the effects of postmodernism on text and art is indeed a global affect or rather limited to only the western world.
Research Intentions:
Areas to Examine:
The first area I will examine will be the history of postmodernism. This will include when it developed and why it developed. To do this I will look at modernism and its features. I will look at why it was rejected and what features of it caused its collapse.
I then intend to look at what postmodernism is. This will include looking at its features and examples of these features. I will look at postmodernisms effect on art, Literature, music, film and architecture. I will look at movements that have emerged since the postmodern era and what has driven them into becoming.
After this I will begin looking at the effects of postmodernism on developing nations. I will look to see what the extent of its effects are if indeed there are any. I will examine if some nations with a strong sense of tradition are rejecting postmodernism and its ideals.
Finally I will look at who is being affected by postmodernism and why it affecting certain groups of people. I will examine what the driving forces behind postmodernism are. In this I will find out who the postmodernists are and how they are expressing they’re postmodern ideals.
Methodology:
The steps I have already taken in my research are outlined above in the preliminary research section.
To start I will be looking at my Affinity diagram to see what factors need research and what sources of information are available as material to research from. I will look into what factors have influenced people to reject modernism and thus I will also be able to explain postmodernism as this research will also allow me to see what has been adopted in postmodernism.
The next step I plan to take is to look further into the factors of postmodernism. I will achieve this by looking at more post-modern works and the meanings they portray. I will also look into the response of people to post-modern works. I’ll find this information by searching the internet and libraries for reviews and critiques on post-modern works. I will also try to find out about public response in terms of sales of post-modern works (in particular grossing of films and music sales).
Upon completing this research I will draw another Affinity diagram with my new information. This will allow me to draw a plan for my structure in accordance with my enquiry questions. Then I will start writing out my project.
Bibliography
Internet Sites:
*www.Dictionary.com
*www.Foxmovies.com
*www.google.com
Google Image search
*www.Imdb.com
-Quotes search
-Films search – (all director, release year and distributor information used for films in bibliography found in imdb films search)
-Postmodernism search
*http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jsa3/hum355/readings/modernism/modern2.htm
* http://junana.com/CDP/corpus/GLOSSARY22.html
*http://www.transparencynow.com/Overview/viewtable.htm
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
-Postmodernism search
-Reflexivity search
-Reservoir Dogs search – Quentin Tarantino quote
-Rock Music search
*www.YouTube.com
-mentioned as way of exhibiting home movies
-Video on postmodernism watched (composer of film not stated)
Films:
*Bride and Prejudice (2004) – Directed by , Bride Productions
*Fight Club (1999) – Directed by David Fincher, Art Linson Productions
*Jurassic Park (1993) – Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures
*L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (1895) – Directed by Auguste and Louis Lumière, Kino Video (DVD version)
*Orlando (1992) – Directed by Sally Potter, Adventure Pictures
*Pulp Fiction (1994) – Directed by Quentin Tarantino, A Band Apart
* Rebel Without a Cuase (1955) – Directed by Nicholas Ray, Warner Brothers Pictures
*Reservoir Dogs (1992) – Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Miramax Films
*Scarface (1983) (used in source analysis) – Directed by Brian De Palma, Universal Pictures
*Scary Movie (2000) – Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans,
*Sliding Doors (1998) – Directed by Peter Howitt, Intermedia films
*Star Wars (1977) – Directed by George Lucas, Lucas Film
* Terminator 2:Judgement Day (1991) – Directed by James Cameron, Canal+
*The Matrix (1999) – Directed by and , Groucho II Film Partnership
* Tron (1982) – Directed by Steven Lisberger,
Novels and Poems:
*Animal Farm – George Orwell – Published by Secker and Warburg in 1945
*Art through the Age - Helen Gardner – published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, USA 1975
- Bicycle Wheel – Michael Duchamp (1951)
- Bulls Head – Pablo Picasso (1943)
- City Square - Alberto Giacometti (1948)
*Darren Shan Saga (First Published as Cirque Du Freak) – Darren Shan - published by HarperCollins, London 2000
*Fight Club (novel) - Chuck Palahniuk – Published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1996
*French Lieutenants Woman – John Fowles - Published in Great Britain 1969 by Jonathan Cape
*Goosbumps series – R. L. Stine
*Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels) – Douglas Adams – Published in 1979 by Pan Books (sequels Published in 1980 and 1982 respectively)
*Mainly Modern an anthology of verse selected by John and Dorothy Colmer – Published by Rigby Limited, Hong Kong 1969
- The Hollow men – T S Elliot (1925)
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock by T. S. Eliot (1915)
*Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell – Published by Secker and Warburg in 1949
* Postmodernism - Kevin O’Donnell – Lion Publishing plc, England 2003
*Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen – First Published 1813 – Published 1996 by Penguin Classics
Video Games:
* Space invaders (1978) – Taito Corporation, distributed by Midway
French Lieutenants Women – First published in 1969 by Vintage, written by John Fowles
www.wikipedia.com – Last modified 27 June 2007 by Richard Hamilton
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jsa3/hum355/readings/modernism/modern2.htm
http://www.transparencynow.com/Overview/viewtable.htm
Tron (1982) – Directed by Steven Lisberger,
Terminator 2:Judgement Day (1991) – Directed by James Cameron, Canal+
www.wikipedia.com – quote posted by User:Lo2u/test – Article name Postmodernism
Bicycle Wheel – made in 1951 by Marcel Duchamp
Bulls Head – made in 1943 by Pabalo Picasso
Rebel Without a Cuase (1955) – Directed by Nicholas Ray, Warner Brothers Pictures
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels) - Douglas Adams - Published in 1979 by Pan Books (sequels Published in 1980 and 1982 respectively)
Sliding Doors (1998) – Directed by Peter Howitt, Intermedia films
Orlando (1992) – Directed by Sally Potter, Adventure Pictures
The Hollow Men – T. S Elliot – Wirtten in 1925
Animal Farm – George Orwell – Published by Secker and Warburg in 1945
The Matrix (1999) – Directed by and , Groucho II Film Partnership
Postmodernism - Kevin O’Donnell – Lion Publishing plc, England 2003
Space invaders (1978) – Taito Corporation, distributed by Midway
Fight Club (novel) – Chuck Palahniuk - Published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1996
The Love Song of J. Alfred Purfrock by T. S. Eliot (1915)
Fight Club (1999) – Directed by David Fincher, Art Linson Productions
http://junana.com/CDP/corpus/GLOSSARY22.html
Reservoir Dogs (1992) – Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Miramax Films
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (1895) – Directed by Auguste and Louis Lumière, Kino Video (DVD version)
