MODERNISM and postmodernism

Modernism Approx. 1880s to WWII

General Tenets of Modernism Challenged tradition Stylistic experimentation Critique of mimesis or realism in how we represent the world Experiments in perception and representation

–RENÉ MAGRITTE “The Treachery of Images” (1929)

Tenets of Modernism Abandonment of traditional “rules” for creating art, music, and literature Abandonment of traditional “rules” for creating art, music, and literature MARC CHAGALL “I and the Village” (1911)

Fragmented representations of time, meaning, and human nature VINCENT VAN GOGH – “The Starry Night” (1889) Tenets of Modernism

MARCEL DUCHAMP “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” (1912) PABLO PICASSO “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (1907)

Sense of loss, alienation, abandonment, and disillusionment EDVARD MUNCH – “Evening on Karl Johan” (1892) Tenets of Modernism

Subjectivity, the importance of “I,” of my thoughts and feelings and experiences

Tenets of Modernism Urge toward nostalgia: longing for some “better” time, “the good old days”

CATALYSTS OF MODERNISM Modernism was largely brought about by the convergence of several factors: WAR - The devastation caused in Europe after World War I, when the most enlightened and advanced nations on the earth came together to kill each other in staggering numbers.

Karl Marx  Asserted that human moral, cultural, and religious values were caused not by any inherent sense of good or evil but by the requirements of a particular (economic) system.

Charles Darwin  Discovered that the evolution of species was the result of “natural selection” and competition rather than through any special act of purposeful creation (vs. G-d).

Friedrich Nietzsche  Identified the moral and cultural crises facing Western civilization.  Viewed artists as purveyors of culture.  Dismissed Christian morality (“God is dead”) and profferred the morality of the Superman and the Slave.  Warned of the dangers of embracing nihilism.

Sigmund Freud  Asserted that most elements of the human personality were the result of various psycho-sexual traumas experienced in infancy and early childhood and stored in the subconscious mind.

In literature… oAuthors made the interior their stage  emphasized the individual and the subjectivity of perception. o Experimented with new uses of language and imagery and new narrative structures: o stream-of-consciousness narration o multiple points of view o fragmented, non-sequential plots.

MARILYN MONROE Andy Warhol (1962) Introducing… POSTMODERNISM POSTMODERNISM POSTMODERNISM POSTMODERNISM Everything is beautiful. Pop is everything. –Andy Warhol

ModernityPostmodernity The alienation of the “I”  subjectivity Multiculturalism (voice of“the Other”) Serious, idealistic  change the world through art Cynical, mocking  no hope, so we might as well laugh at the horror Age of Literacy Image culture / Society of the spectacle Elitist, formal Breakdown between “high” and “low”art Belief in “meta-narrative” Disconnect from myth/ meta-narrative

Tenets of Postmodernism Extreme self-reflexivity: objectification of structure; artist/author reflects upon own processes of creation pomos more so than mods more playful, irreverant  Examples: The Scream series of movies has characters debating the generic rules behind the horror film. Frank Gehry, Nationale-Nederlanden Building

Irony and parody  sense of playfulness; ironic interfacing between character(s) and author Tenets of Postmodernism DROWNING GIRL Roy Lichtenstein (1963)

Tenets of Postmodernism A breakdown between high and low cultural forms. Modernism: focus upon “high” art Pomo: embraces both “high” and “low” arts (like comic books) Pomos often employ pop and mass- produced objects in more immediately understandable ways, even if their goals are still often complex (eg. Andy Warhol's commentary on mass production and on the commercial aspects of "high" art through the exact reproduction of a set of Cambell's Soup cans  ). 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans Andy Warhol (1962)

Tenets of Postmodernism Nostalgia as pastiche: - Fascination with styles and fashions from the past, but often used completely out of their original context, and in juxtaposition (pastiche). - Examples: recycled TV shows of the past that are then given new life on the big screen (Scooby-Doo, Charlie's Angels, and so on). - May be a symptom of our loss of a connection with the past….

Tenets of Postmodernism - Gravitation towards visual forms, as in "cartoons“ and animated films. - A general breakdown in narrative linearity and temporality. Many point to the style of MTV videos as a good example. Visuality (visuals, pictures) vs. temporality (linear time)

RENÉ MAGRITTE “The Treachery of Images” (1929) (HYPER)REALITY “The transformation of reality into images…” –Frederic Jameson Illusions of individuality Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities. Hyper-reality, image saturation, simulacra seem more powerful than the "real”

Tenets of Postmodernism Secondary Orality: reliance of a largely functionally illiterate society upon oral media sources for information (TV, radio, film, etc.)  reversal: literacy rates had been rising steadily from the introduction of print through the modern period, but postmodern society has seen a drastic reversal in this trend --  pomo culture still relies on print to create these media outlets (hence the term secondary orality); however, increasingly only a professional, well-educated class has access to full print- and computer-literacy. An ever larger percentage of the population merely ingests orally the media that is being produced (passive response).

Illusions of individuality Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities. Sense of disillusionment Tenets of Postmodernism

Questions of truth and subjectivity first proposed in Modernism, gave rise to the belief in multiple truths and multiple subjectivities in Postmodernism. It’s Pomo… You know, Post-modern… Weird for the sake of weird. (Episode “Homer the Moe”) Tenets of Postmodernism

Disorientation: Pomo works attempt to disorient the subject in time and space.  alternating narrators (Faulkner)  fragmented chronology (Vonnegut) Dr. Who

Intertextuality (in both mod and pomo) – references within one work to outside texts Tenets of Postmodernism

Late capitalism: a general sense that the world has been so taken over by the values of capitalist acquisition that alternatives no longer exist.  paranoia narratives. Minority Report