Some of the dominant features of postmodern fictions include temporal disorder, the erosion of the sense of time, a foregrounding of words as fragmenting material signs, a pervasive and pointless use of pastiche, loose association of ideas, paranoia and the creation of vicious circles or a loss of destination between separate levels of discourse, which are all symptoms of the language disorders of postmodernist fictions. The postmodern novel may be summed up as:
• Late modernism.
• Anti-modernism.
• Not avant-garde tendency (may be avant-garde within a literary period).
• Emphasizes plot than character.
• Characters are fragmented/multiple.
• Experimental.
• Misogynist.
• Denigration of female writers.
• Matter of packaging.
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Choudhary states:
The major feature of this kind of fiction lies in the subversion of the assumptions and generic traits and function of fiction, including modernist novel. Generically postmodernist fiction is self-questioning in nature, skeptical about its possibilities, rules and principles. Its function is disillusionary; it dives into the underside of fiction and explodes its fallacies…Postmodernist text directs itself to the suspension of meaning by using disruptive narrative, polyphony, multiple ending and the like thereby frustrating intelligibility. It is devoid of teleology and causality (12). Some critics are of the view that postmodern fictions do not convey any moral values and imparts untrue elements. “In a postmodern word, literature is just another text. You can forget all that stuff about truth and value—and other alienating lies perpetual by a deliberately selective version of history controlled by crazy power freaks and their lackey dupes. ‘Truth’ is only what circulates as such: hence the importance of technology and the media to an understanding of ‘our’ world today. ‘Values’ are only effects of cultural traditions; hence the importance of becoming cynical today, in order not to be suppressed under the suffocating of ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’” (Lucy viii). A.S.D. Pillai states that:
The contemporary cultural situation, the postmodern text reveals in its construction a world of valueless vaudeville. But, as has been repeatedly pointed out, black
Postmodernism is a very unique era within American literature. In previous time periods authors wrote very structured eventful stories that would often relate to the most common themes of the time, however Postmodernism completely defied this formula. In most cases Postmodern stories do not have story arcs nor do they have common themes. At most, the Post era can be bound by very vague similarities. Most of the stories are conveyed through streams of conscious, which is essentially using an unedited snippet of someone's life to create a story. There are no inner monologues or poetic speeches, rather they only showcase a small scale continuous sliver of life. The narration device similarity is cut and dry, however this can not be said for the themes within Postmodernism. In the vaguest of words, Post era literature can be bound within a common ideal of expressing the terrible and disappointing aspects of life.
Postmodernism is a form of literature which is marked both stylistically and ideologically, by a reliance on such literary conventions as unreliable narrators , parody, unrealistic plots, dark humor and authorial self-reference. A Girl’s Story written by David Arnason is a perfect example of postmodernism because David tends to ignore the traditional limitation of structure. He uses the power of his mind to develop his story (A Girl’s Story). David uses the cultures and classes to create a limitation free story that anyone can enjoy and understand.
Where does truth lie? Postmodernism is a literary movement of the twentieth century that attempts to show that the answer to this question cannot be completely determined. Characteristics of postmodern works include a mixing of different genres, random time changes, and the use of technology that all aid in presenting a common postmodern theme that truth doesn’t lie in one story, place or person. The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer encompasses these postmodern characteristics combining together show how the truth cannot always be attained.
Passions drive people, and the townspeople in “The Lottery” and Paul in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” are no different. Each of the members of the unnamed town has a strong passion for tradition. The original black box used for the lottery is described as being, “lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson 251). This sentence gives the reader an understanding that the lottery is an ancient tradition that has become an integral part of the town’s lifestyle. Such a tradition can only be carried on for this length of time if the people are passionate about preserving the tradition. Paul had a passion to be wealthy as a way to prove to his mother that he was lucky. From a young age, he saw that his family always wanted more money to support a better lifestyle, yet
The fallout after the World War 1 and the Great Depression saw the emergence of a literary preoccupation with the idea of fragmentation, and a 'cubist application ' to literature as a means of representing the 20th Century 'modern ' reality. Authors, poets, artists etc saw; cubism, expressionism and fragmentation as the best vehicles to depict the incomplete, broken lives of their subjects. With both modern and post modern literature making a conscious break away from previous realism, 20thC literature employed and explored subjectivism, whereby the author turned from the typical external reality to the inner consciousness of a character or subject, to reflect a motif/ theme as a whole. Modernist literature did so by exploring fragmentation in terms of narrative, how a character was constructed, the formation of passages and chapters, and how events unfolded. This typically surmounted to the creation of a sense of a chaotic universe, metaphysically unfounded, laced with the subconscious fears of characters and notions of alienation.
Although the core plots of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” and Neil Burger’s Divergent are different, there are similarities between them. One similarity I have found is the way both Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” and Neil Burger’s Divergent use the postmodern quality of feelings of anxiety, confusion, and uncertainty in their respective works.
The theme of power is also established through the examination of the relationship between black artists and the world of mass communications in the early twentieth century. This relationship mirrors the position of black people in the society at large—a society dominated by white racism. Wilson establishes this early in the play through a series of musical imagery and idiomatic language, in which he uses both the style
Realism, Naturalism, and Regionalism are just a few examples of the many styles of writing that exist. Each style of writing deals with a specific time period. Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”, Henry James’s “Daisy Miller”, and Mary E Wilkins Freeman’s “The Revolt of Mother” are just a few examples of the literary works that represent these time periods. These literary works are perfect examples of the specific time periods each writing style was popular among certain authors. These stories allow readers to compare the modern times that we live in currently to the period these authors were in. They also allow the reader to branch out and be different.
‘Black Aesthetic’ works were not based on good or bad writing, but rather on its ability to stir its reader’s emotions and motivate them.
Not since the tumultuous 1960's has there been such an intense focus on blackness. In past years, such highly sensitive issues were seldom discussed outside some black circles. But they are increasingly being aired in national forums, news articles and books. The topics range from "What's Black, Who's Black, What's Not" to "Black Like Who?"
Literature: the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism…. Where does one begin? To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided.
As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As
There are many ways to supplement a story in order to add lucidity. It is done through literary devices and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is no different. "The Things They Carried" is a narrative about a soldier at war in Vietnam. However, this story provides multiple layers of meaning through O'Brien's tone and style that help the reader further understand it. Both of these literary devices are embedded in the story and gradually help define it.
It is beneficial to study certain subjects because of their relationship with Modernist theories. Young-Adult and Children's literature are transcendent because the narrative is interchangeable among an extended spectrum of readers. Both classes of literature deconstruct into its basic elements and define the essence of youth. I have arrived at such thoughts through the studying of modern short stories, which focus on the literary works that followed the great war. Modernist techniques have become the influence of all literary works that have followed. Studying modern short stories has formed an urge to review literature in the view of
Before the 20th Century, literature was pretty straightforward; the narrators were reliable, the timelines were linear, and the perspective was clear, but then somebody got the idea to mix it up. This is how we got books such as The Great Gatsby and one of our class texts, Orlando. For some, this was a startling and uncomfortable transition from what used to be considered the, “normal” format which was very up front in terms of structure and voice. Others found it to be more exciting and, while it was still weird and unsettling for those people, it forced people to think more about what the books were trying to communicate, instead of just being handed the message; they had to work for it. This has become one of the leading reasons that societies are encouraged to read; if you read a book that forces you to think, your mind becomes stronger and this promotes an increase in intelligence and creativity.