Transcript Slide 1

refers to patterns of human activity
and the symbolic structures that give
such activity significance.
term used to designate a multitude of
trends—in the arts, philosophy, religion,
technology, and many other areas—that come
after and deviate from the many 20th-cent.
movements
Lyotard’s view
Incredulity towards metanarratives
 An era in which people
have rejected the grand,
supposedly universal
stories and paradigms such
as religion and gender that
have defined culture and
behavior in the past, and
have instead begun to
organize their cultural life
around a variety of more
local and subcultural
ideologies and myths.
Various Definitions
A worldview that emphasizes the
existence of different worldviews.
There is no single way to define
postmodernism, and that is the single
most postmodern thing about it.
 Features of postmodern culture begin to arise
in the 1920s with the emergence of the Dada
movement, which featured collage and a focus
on the framing of objects and discourse as
being important, than the work itself
 Another strand which would have tremendous
impact on post-modernism would be the
existentialists, who placed the centrality of the
individual narrative as being the source of
morals and understanding.
 Postmodernism has manifestations in many
modern academic and non-academic
disciplines
 philosophy, theology, art, architecture, film,
television, music, theatre, sociology, fashion,
technology, literature, and communications
are all heavily influenced by postmodern
trends and ideas, and are thoroughly
scrutinised from postmodern perspectives
 Exactly when modernism began to give way
to postmodernism depends on the observer
and the theoretical framework
GLOBALIZATION
It refers to the worldwide exchanges brought
about by modern communication and
infrastructure.
It describes how human beings are
becoming more intertwined.
CONTRIBUTION TO
POSTMODERNISM
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Journalists, politicians & others use
the word to signify that something
profound is happening.
It is eroding local cultures and
traditions through a global culture.
Consumerism
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The features of culture that have contributed to
postmodernism include consumerism, the
fragmentation of authority, and the commodification
of knowledge
Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects
of equating personal happiness with purchasing
material possessions and consumption.
In an abstract sense, consumerism refers to the
belief that the free choice of consumers should
dictate the economic structure of a society
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Since consumerism began, various individuals
and groups have consciously sought an
alternative lifestyle through simple living.
While consumerism is not a new phenomenon, it
has only become widespread in the 20th century
and particularly in recent decades, under the
influence of capitalism and globalization
A culture that is permeated by consumerism can
be referred to as a consumer culture
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"Overcoming Consumerism" is a growing
philosophy. It is a term that embodies the active
resistance to consumerism.
anti-consumerists tend to believe that
consumerism is an artificial creation sustained by
artificial social pressures, while libertarians tend
to believe that consumerism is natural and the
only way to eliminate it is through artificial social
pressures.
Post-modernism
…or have we moved
beyond modernism?
Epistemological Relativism
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There is no such thing as objective knowledge.
Everything is viewed through the lens of our values
and our culture.
Question- How can we make judgements about the
world around us if all knowledge and truths are relative.
This is a central critique of the epistemological
relativism generated in much of Postmodern thought.
Postmodernism in language
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It refers to the use of postmodern ideas in the field of
linguistics.
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An important concept in postmodernism's view of
language is the idea of "play" text.
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Play is the means by which the reader constructs or
interprets the text, and the means by which the author
gains a presence in the reader's mind.
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In the context of postmodernism, play means changing
the framework which connects ideas, and thus allows the
troping, or turning, of a metaphor or word from one
context to another, or from one frame of reference to
another.
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Roland Barthes argued this concept, and coined
it 'Death of the Author'; this allows for 'freedom
of the reader'. It is the reader's freedom which
gives meaning to a text, not the author's
intention. Barthes is well known for having
stated, "It is language that speaks, not the
author".
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In post modernistic view ,author shall choose
words which transmit the idea as transparently
as possible to the reader. Thus postmodernism
in language has often been identified with poor
writing and communication skills.
Postmodern literature ?
• arose as a series of styles and ideas in the
post-World WarII period .
• explores subjectivism, turning from
external reality to examine inner states of
consciousness.
• explores fragmentariness in narrative- and
character-construction.
Some Attributes of Post-Modernist
Literature
• the writing of reflexive or meta-fiction
• the use of paradox
• a crossing or dissolving of borders -between fiction and non-fiction, between
literary genres, between high and low
culture
Gender
• The postmodern novel was also part of a
larger social project: integration and
ending discrimination against women.
• Perspective of postmodern writers on the
life of women:
Other sub-genres?
• Excrement Literature
• Electronic literature
• Hypertext fiction
Some of the authors of Postmodern
Literature :
• J.R.R. Tolkien
• Salman Rushdie
• C.S. Lewis
• Dan Brown
J.R.R Tolkien
• the author of The Hobbit
and its sequel The Lord
of The Rings another
fiction The Silmarillion.
• The covers of the Lord
of the Rings series:
Tolkien’s RNG:
Salman Rushdie
• an Indian-born British essayist
and author of fiction.
• His novel, Midnight’s Children,
however, catapulted him to
literary fame and is often
considered his best work to
date.
• He is best known for the violent
criticism his book The Satanic
Verses (1988) inspired in radical
Muslims.
Clive Staples Lewis
• an Irish author and scholar, of
mixed Irish, English, and
Welsh ancestry.
• work on medieval literature
• Christian apologetics
• fiction, especially the
children’s series entitled The
Chronicles of Narnia and his
science fiction Space Trilogy.
C.S.Lewis’s :
The Chronicles of Narnia –
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Dan Brown
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Dan Brown is an
American author of
thriller fiction, best
known for writing the
controversial 2003
bestseller, The Da
Vinci Code
Postmodern art (sometimes called po-mo) is
a term used to describe art which is thought
to be after or in contradiction to some aspect
of modernism.
Postmodern art uses a vocabulary of media,
genres or styles as parts of an extended visual
language that goes beyond the boundaries of
the modernist vocabulary
Postmodern art (and thought) favors
reflexivity and self-consciousness,
fragmentation and discontinuity
(especially in narrative structures),
ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis
on the destructured, decentered,
dehumanized subject.
In his theoretical writings, Jean Baudrillard
concludes that what motivates art's historical
change is not any 'authentic' or 'original'
impulse, but simply fashion, pivoting on the
desire for novelty, which he sees as an organic
and integrated process.
The basic premise behind postmodern art is
that all forms of novelty and rebellion have
already been explored,
Even if everything being done wasn't true the
particular emphasis on rejection of that which
is old or already done is only handicapping to
an artists self-expression.
Artist Allison Hetter, when asked what postmodernism was, replied with the simple
phrase: "Everything's been done already."
Many observers feel that we are in the stage
of the po-po-mo where: "Everything's been
re-done already".
Some of the famous modern art pieces of
sculpture, photography, architecture and
painting
Judy Chicago’s ‘ Dinner Party’
Richard Serra's "Tilted Arc", 1981 (now destroyed)
Vietnam War Memorial (1982)
Hung Lui: Three Fujins, 1995
Pacita Abad’s
How Mali Lost Her Accent, 1991
Faith Ringgold’s
Dancing at the Louvre, 1991
Jesse Trevino: Senora Dolores Trevino, 1982
Sandy Scogland’s Revenge of
the Goldfish, 1981
Photo above from Larry Powell's
book "Hunger of the Heart:
Communion at the Wall"
Sculpture of Walking Man
by George Segal
A Ceramic Sculpture by
Joan Miro
 POST MODERN MUSIC :
• MUSICAL
STYLE - Tends to be self
referential and ironic. Favours eclecticism in
musical form and genre
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• MUSICAL CONDITION - Simply state of
music in post modernism .It does’nt have any
particular style or characteristic
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JONATHAN KRAMER’S VIEW ->
•is on some level and some way ironic
• challenges barriers between high and low
styles
• questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist
and populist values
• embraces contradictions
• distrusts binary oppositions
• includes fragmentations and
discontinuities
• presents multiple meanings and multiple
temporalities
 THEORIES :
• it is a degenerate modernity, the critic Theodor Adonor
being an example of idea that trends of music after
serialism represent banalization of and regression from
modernity.
•It is a sign of late capitalism and decline of identity
creating metanarratives such as nation states.
•As with modernity and postmodernism in general,
modernity may be considered to not yet have ended, and
thus there is no post modern condition.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MODERN AND POSTMODERN
MUSIC:
• modern music was characterized by focus on musical fundamentals
and expressions.
however in post modern music, the commodity being sold by record
companies and pop stars are not the fundamentals of the music, but
the cultural image surrounding music, which reverbates through films,
televisions, and other media.
ROCK MUSIC –(PINK FLOYD)
POP MUSIC – (BEATLES)
‘DJING’
RAP
Postmodernism in urban design
 Postmodernism in contemporary cities in terms of
globalization.
 Growing proportion of all economic activity
 Progressively organized at the international scale
 This international scope induces economic
patterns & induces multicultural ambience.
Postmodernism in Graphic design
Graphic design may be considered as the
root of postmodernism.
Postmodernism in graphic design has been
mainly a visual & decorative movement.
Graphic design saw a massive popular
raising at the end of the seventies in form of
Graffiti and Hip Hop culture's rise .
Postmodernism in architecture
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As with many cultural
movements, one of
postmodernism's most
pronounced and
visible ideas can be
seen in architecture.
The functional and
formalized shapes and
spaces of the
modernist movement
are replaced by
diverse aesthetics.
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Post-modernism is a
rejection of strict rules set
by the early modernists and
seeks exuberance in the use
of building techniques,
angles, and stylistic
references
Architects generally
considered postmodern
include: Peter Eisenmen,
Philip Johnson, John Burgee,
Robert Venturi, Ricardo
Bofill, and Frank Gehry.
A prime example of
postmodern architecture lies
along the Las Vegas strip
which was glamorized by
Robert Venturi in the book
‘Learning from Las Vegas’.
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Postmodern philosophy is an eclectic and elusive movement
characterized by the postmodern criticism and analysis of
Western philosophy. Beginning as a critique of Continental
philosophy, it was heavily influenced by phenomenology,
structuralism and existentialism, and by the philosophers
Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger. It was also influenced
to some degree by Ludwig Wittgenstein's later criticisms of
analytic philosophy and Søren Kierkegaard's attack on any type
of systematic philosophy.
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Within postmodern philosophy, there are numerous interrelated
fields, including deconstruction and several fields beginning with
the prefix "post-", such as post-structuralism, post-Marxism, and
post-feminism. In particular postmodern philosophy has spawned
a huge literature of critical theory.
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Postmodern philosophy is generally characterized by a
skepticism toward the simple binary oppositions predominant in
Western metaphysics and humanism, such as the expectation
that the philosopher may cleanly isolate knowledge from
ignorance, social progress from reversion, dominance from
submission, or presence from absence. This is antifoundationalism. To some critics, this skepticism appears similar
to relativism or even nihilism.
Defenders of post-modernism would argue that there is a distinct
difference, however: while relativism and nihilism are generally
viewed as an abandonment of meaning and authority,
postmodern philosophy is generally viewed as an openness to
meaning and authority from unexpected places, and that the
ultimate source of authority is the "play" of the discourse itself. In
addition, many view postmodern philosophy not as a purely
abstract or logical argument, but as a historical occurrence.
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Art & Literary views
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Social view
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Philosophical view